


the ruler of men

by chill_mee



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Black Family (Harry Potter) - Freeform, F/F, F/M, Family Drama, Family Issues, Hogwarts, M/M, Mudblood, Tedromeda - Freeform, Teenage Rebellion, The Noble and Most Ancient House of Black, black sisters
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-07
Updated: 2018-12-25
Packaged: 2019-07-27 19:26:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 43
Words: 87,322
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16225736
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chill_mee/pseuds/chill_mee
Summary: Contrary to popular belief, Andromeda Black was not a well-behaved Black that changed when she fell in love. She always felt asphyxiated by her toxic family. This is her story: growing up, rebelling against her family, running away with a muggleborn, and watching her loved ones die.





	1. prologue

The first time Andromeda Black heard the word ‘mudblood’ she was nine years old. She had been allowed to sit with the grown-ups at the farewell dinner for her sister Bellatrix, who was leaving for Hogwarts the following day. Narcissa had not been allowed on the table, which made it even more of a momentous occasion. Narcissa had cried herself to sleep when their father told her she was not to eat with the grown-ups.

“You know, Andromeda, in two years’ time you will be leaving for Hogwarts as well,” said Druella, her mother. Druella was an emotionless-looking woman. For all the beauty she had, her face was always set in a void expression, and her blue eyes cut like ice. She usually sounded ever more serious and stern than she felt, but Andromeda had learnt to distinguish her real feelings most of the time, so the tone did not intimidate her. She dared not reply, however. Aunt Walburga and uncle Orion were sitting to her father’s left, and to her sister’s right. They had to voice their opinion first, she knew as much, and she did not want to be called impertinent once again, not when she was sitting with the grown-ups. Not that she liked her aunt Walburga in the least, either. Her uncle Orion was bad enough, always looking like he had an unpleasant taste in his mouth, but aunt Walburga was worse. She was very critical of Druella and her daughters. Her own son was not very remarkable in any way, a toddler of almost two that Andromeda regarded as a future mischief maker. But he was male, and he would carry on the Black name, which Druella had failed to accomplish, three times at that, too. She did never voice that criticism: that was beneath her, but her piercing black eyes set on everything and everyone with a look of disapproval. She was very little back then, but Andromeda could never forget the face her aunt Walburga made when she was told Narcissa’s name and not a star or constellation-inspired name, as tradition dictated.

It was, nevertheless, her uncle the first to speak after her mother’s remark.

“I hope for both of them to make it into Slytherin.”

“Hope? If they do not, we shall have no option but to blast them from the family tree,” declared her aunt. Andromeda shifted uneasily in her seat. Everyone who was not blasted from the family tree had been sorted into Slytherin, alright. But she also knew that she disliked pretty much every single one of her relatives. They all looked around like everything around them was beneath them, they all shared the same cold, distant expression. Oftentime, Andromeda found herself feeling quite alone, except for her little sister, Narcissa, who had an expression of wonder and fondness for beautiful things. Problem was, most of her family regarded Narcissa as a romantic airhead, and that gave her no hope.

“What if I get sorted into Ravenclaw?” Andromeda replied. She was cautious enough to pick the least-offensive House alternative.

“Ravenclaw? What, when have you picked a book, sister dear?” Bellatrix teased. She was sitting with her brand new black dress, that paired very well with her black curls and brown eyes. Andromeda could anticipate the paleness that would go over her once the pinkishness of youth left her features.

“Ravenclaw would not be optimal but it is the only acceptable option, yes,” interrupted Walburga. Andromeda had to hand it to her, even though her aunt was a terribly arrogant woman, she knew how to keep a conversation going. Her parents were never much of an entertainment during meals.

Bellatrix made a face, and aunt Walburga shot her a disapproving look. Bellatrix was aunt Walburga’s favourite niece and, thus, Bellatrix tried as hard as she could to please her. As a consequence, Walburga was the only person besides their father who could put Bellatrix in her place. “Bellatrix dear, you do not want to end up wrinkled up at fifteen. You have all the features of a true Black, you must retain your beauty.” At that, Druella let out an inaudible sigh that only Andromeda noticed. Druella’s blonde hair and blue eyes were captivating, but aunt Walburga did not approve of them, and less did she approve that Andromeda and Narcissa had inherited some of those features.

“Just don’t get sorted into Gryffindor,” Druella added, to get in her sister in law’s good graces.

“Yes,” she replied. “Those disastrous undisciplined airheads who know no shame or discreteness, always boasting about nothing.”

“They have taken some of our most respectable relatives and turned them to shreds,” Orion agreed.

“Worst of all are those Hufflepuffs,” Cygnus added. “No respect for what it means to be a witch or wizard, no talent, no background, no respectable families.”

“Cygnus why would you even mention that heinous House. That pigsty is full of mudbloods.” Walburga sentenced. Everyone agreed heartily, and Bellatrix nodded. Andromeda did not know what that word meant, but she kept quiet as she did not want to seem less than her sister.

“Worry not, aunt Walburga,” Bellatrix said. “Dromeda is not very talented, but I am certain the Black blood will not be sorted in a House lesser than Ravenclaw, at the very least. As for me, have no doubts, I will be put in Slytherin or I am not a witch.”

That night, after her aunt and uncle had left—“I know a very good potion to turn those brown locks black, Andromeda, tell me if you ever want to give it a try” Walburga’d offered before leaving—and everyone was fast asleep, Andromeda left her room and went straight to her family library. She turned on a lamplight and held it up to look at the titles on the books’ spines. There was an entire section dedicated to mudbloods and blood purity. She opened one which held the title  _ Everything you Need to Know about Mudbloods and How to Avoid Them: the Revised Edition _ and sat on one of the armchairs. The library was freezing cold, but she dared not lit the fireplace, in case her parents realised she was out of bed. She became entranced by the book’s contents. She learnt a mudblood (or muggleborn) was a witch or wizard born to a muggle family, but she also learnt that magical families could have non-magical offspring (or squibs). She learnt that some muggleborns had become very renowned witches or wizards—the book specially warned the reader against the recently appointed Minister for Magic, Nobby Leach—and although everything the book said about muggles and mudbloods was written with the utmost repulsion and disdain, Andromeda was fascinated by them. She was elated to discover that magic blood could appear almost out of nowhere in a muggle family, and that those witches and wizards could be just as talented as pure-blood or half-blood witches and wizards—even though the book never quite admitted it.

She finally closed the book, but she was too awake to go back to bed. She decided to pick out the book that made her drowse off whenever her father read it to her and her sisters:  _ The Noble and Most Ancient House of Black _ . There was a tapestry at aunt Walburga’s house, Grimmauld place, and that had often seemed much more interesting than the book, with all her ascendants peering curiously at her as trying to decide whether she’d be worthy, and the furious blasts that appeared in the tapestry every here and there. With her newly acquired knowledge, however, the book became much more interesting. Continuously updating itself through magic, only members of the Black family could own a copy. Since the book was awfully dull, most children did not bother to look at it, and adults only read to them the parts that they thought proper. Given that the books were spellbound to keep a true and full record of all family members (even disowned ones), neither aunt Walburga or anyone else had been able to blast relatives off its pages.

As such, Andromeda learnt about Iola Black, who had been born almost a century before her, and had married a muggle: Bob Hitchens. She also learnt that Phineas Black was disowned for supporting muggle rights; that she was related to the Weasleys, through her great aunt: Cedrella Black, who’d married Septimus Weasley; and that her great uncle Marius had been disowned for being a squib. She looked at her page on the book and her sisters’. They barely had anything written on them and yet, by the same time the next day, Bellatrix’s page would contain just one tiny bit more of information than Narcissa’s and than hers: her House.

Just then, she noticed a shadow standing in the doorway and she shut the book in her astonishment. As the shadow stepped into the room, Andromeda could make out the face of her mother, Druella. She looked at her with disapproval, but no anger was there in her face, as per usual. Her mother expressionlessness was often bad, but in situations like that one, she was thankful for it.

“Andromeda, it is very late for you to be reading, you know?” She sighed. “Does this have anything to do with what your sister said at dinner about you not reading? You know that’s not true.” Andromeda looked at her mum, guiltily, her cheeks bright with the frustration of being caught. “You’re obviously not the most avid reader, but you can certainly enjoy the occasional leisurely read.”

“That’s not what worries me, mother.” Andromeda replied.

“What is it then?”

“What if I get sorted into Hufflepuff? What if I screw up and you have to blast me off the tapestry?” (“What if I think muggleborns are not so bad?” She dared not add.) Druella’s face went as close as reassuring as her infinite expressionlessness allowed her to, and it was moments like these that made Andromeda think that even though almost her entire family was terribly cold, at least her mother loved her. Probably. If she’d guessed her feelings correctly.

“I’m sure you’ll get sorted into Slytherin. Your father was, and his parents were. I was as well. Your sister Bellatrix will get into Slytherin tomorrow, and your sister will get in after you. Don’t panic.” Andromeda didn’t oversee the fact that her mother had not mentioned what would happen if she got sorted into Hufflepuff, but decided to let it go.

“What does the sorting consist of?” Andromeda asked instead, curiously.

“Oh, it’d ruin the fun if I told you, but it is nothing to be afraid of.”

“Did you tell Trix what it is really like?”

“No, I’d told her to be prepared, that it’s very difficult to even get through the tests, let alone make it into Slytherin.”

“She didn’t seem very worried at dinner, though.”

“That’s because I told her before I turned off her lights.” Andromeda grinned. “Now get back to bed. Tomorrow we have to leave early to be on time at the station.”


	2. nail polish

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had to edit the previous chapter because I miscalculated. Sirius had to have been already born by the time Bellatrix left for Hogwarts.

Andromeda had spent the last two years bouncing between frequently visiting her uncle Alphard’s house and babysitting Sirius. After Bellatrix had left for Hogwarts (and gotten sorted into Slytherin), Andromeda had been reading carefully  _ The Noble and Most Ancient House of Black _ , looking to get to know her family better. Her uncle Alphard, interestingly, had never belonged to any blood purity clubs or groups, and this absence in his record made Andromeda immediately curious. She had to talk more to the man. Under the pretense of making company to her solitary, unmarried uncle, Andromeda had been allowed to go there on her own a couple times a week. Narcissa had not liked being left alone in the least, but Andromeda was not about to let her sister meddle in her affairs. She had become quite the blabbermouth and Andromeda did not enjoy it.

Andromeda discovered that her uncle was a far more agreeable man when he was on his own and his siblings weren’t there to hear him. He allowed Andromeda to wander around in muggle streets and muggle shops. Thanks to him, Andromeda had discovered nail polish, and had amassed a small collection, which was now sitting in her suitcase, accompanying her to Hogwarts. She had also grown to like muggle bands, Alphard had shown her first muggle song: “Johnny B. Goode” and, when he realised she’d taken a liking to it, he told her how to get to the record shop. Her favourite band was The Rolling Stones. The Beatles were alright, too, she’d liked them first but, once she’d heard The Rolling Stones, she knew The Beatles would always be second best in her heart.

She had been earning money working for her aunt Walburga, babysitting her cousin. Walburga had given birth to her second son, Regulus—terrible name, in Andromeda’s opinion—and was in an unusually good mood, since she’d beaten Druella twice now. She had thought Andromeda’s request was incredibly sensible, and had even praised her for it.

“It’s good for you to know the cost of life” she’d said. Andromeda did not want to lose her job, otherwise she would’ve asked her if  _ she _ knew it, given she was so rich it was highly improbable. Taking care of Sirius was a lot of fun, Andromeda soon realised. Now that he could walk and could say more coherent words, it was funny to teach him to call aunt Walburga ‘booger’ and uncle Orion ‘dud’. Whenever she was confronted about this, Andromeda simply said he probably hadn’t gotten the hang of pronouncing properly just yet, and Sirius never said or did anything that could put her in trouble. In fact, Andromeda felt her cousin was always rather ready to make her laugh. She knew she’d miss them—her uncle and her cousin—when she’d left for Hogwarts, even Narcissa. Narcissa was polite and caring, and she knew she might stop being so once she was over at Hogwarts and was no longer around to oversee her behaviour.

Andromeda was anxious about Hogwarts. Bellatrix had come back home an entirely different person after her first year. She was appalled when Sirius referred to her as “Lala”, feeling it was beneath her. Andromeda was distressed when she realised how much she and her sister had grown apart in such a short time. Bellatrix and she had always enjoyed a healthy sisterly rivalry, sometimes it was a little more rough than others. But Bellatrix had always confided in her. She sent a few letters to her in the beginning, then none. She’d decided to stay over during Christmas, and when they finally saw each other, Bellatrix acted like she didn’t trust her at all. Like she was in on a big secret and Andromeda would never ever know about it. After the second year, she was insufferable. Andromeda went to sleep the night before taking the Hogwarts Express hoping Hogwarts would not change her that way.

. . .

“Is that seat taken?” She was woken up from her reverie (she had been singing “Carol” on her head) by a boy with fair hair. Andromeda looked curiously at him. His clothes screamed muggleborn. She put a lock of her hair behind her ear and finally smiled.

“Not at all.”

“Oh, thank you so much.” He walked in and sat in front of her. His eyes were golden like honey, and he seemed like a sweet boy. “My name is Edward Tonks.”

“Pleasure to meet you, Edward. My name is—” she was cut off by the arrival of her sister. She had left to find her friends and apparently had brought them to introduce them to Andromeda.

“Scatter, loser.” She looked at Tonks like he was gum stuck to her shoe. He looked at Andromeda, wide-eyed. Before Andromeda could say anything in his favour, Bellatrix addressed him again. “Can’t you understand me? Get lost, you disgusting mudblood.” Tonks did not seem to get the insult, but he knew he had been insulted, alright. He frowned and left before Bellatrix could call him more names. Andromeda wanted to say sorry, but he left without even looking back at her. Bellatrix sat in front of her.

“You didn’t have to be so mean.”

“Dromeda, honey, you can’t be seen hanging around those people. You are a  _ Black _ . In this school that means something. It commands respect, it commands fear…” Andromeda didn’t like the sound of that. “Anyway,” she gestured towards the people beside her, “these are the kind of people you should mingle with.” She pointed to a boy who could not have been a year older than her, with black hair and black eyes, smiling smugly. “This, is Rabastan Lestrange.”

“Pleasure.” He said, taking Andromeda’s hand and kissing it. It sent chills down her back—the bad kind of chills. He took a seat beside her.

“This is his brother, Rodolphus.” He was slightly taller than Rabastan, and was beginning to show some signs of puberty. The dignified, pure-blooded kind: a single muted pimple underneath his jawline, almost hidden in it. He also had an edge to his gaze that made him look like a lunatic, if that was possible. He sat next to Bellatrix and made a gesture with his head for all greeting. “And these are Alecto Carrow and her brother Amycus, he’s a first year like you.” Alecto, a big ginger with sunken eyes, grinned to her and sat next to Rabastan. Amycus, a longer, thinner, brunet version of her, sat in front of her and next to Rodolphus. Andromeda smiled politely to everyone and decided to look out the window.

The trip couldn’t have ended soon enough. Her sister and her friends kept making fun of every single person in the castle. Amycus knew no one but kept trying to chip in on the snarky comments. Alecto spent the entire ride looking at Rabastan out of the corner of her eye, as if she wanted him to kiss her hand as well.  _ She can keep him _ , Andromeda thought. Bellatrix had noticed her nail polish mid journey. She took it off with a wave of her wand (“I promise I won’t tell father or mother, it’s us Black sisters now, but you have to quit this kind of nonsense” she’d said). On the one hand, Andromeda was happy Bellatrix wasn’t all gone like she’d feared for the entirety of the previous year. On the other, she was pissed she’d vanished her nail polish.

Changed into her new robes, Andromeda was left behind with Amycus to go after a homeless-looking man who was gathering the first years. Thankfully, Amycus did not try to start any conversation. She got into a boat with him and a ginger boy whose hair was furiously orange, and his face a mess of freckles. They were received at the door by a young, handsome yet severe-looking woman. Her sternness reminded Andromeda of her own mother.

“My name is Professor McGonagall. Welcome to Hogwarts. In a few minutes, the Sorting Ceremony will begin. You will go to one of the four great Houses of Hogwarts: Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, or Slytherin. Once sorted, you will sit with your new housemates and enjoy a feast with them. Now, follow me.” They followed, silently, and entered an enormous hall, the ceiling looking like an open night-sky, a thousand candles floating over their heads. Andromeda made it to the front with the other first years. She was the first to be called to take a seat on the stool.

“Black, Andromeda.” Professor McGonagall had taken a old dusty hat and put it on her head. So  _ this _ was the sorting. Her mum had been right to tell her not to worry.  _ No worries huh? _ Echoed a voice in her head.  _ But I do have doubts _ , Andromeda confessed to the voice.  _ Leave it to me, then _ , the voice said, and before she could say another word, it bellowed:

“SLYTHERIN!” Feeling both relieved and worried, Andromeda got off the stool and down the steps among cheers, to where her sister had saved her a seat.

“Father and mother will be so proud, Dromeda!” And she hugged her. Andromeda was so happy that her sister had hugged her that she put her doubts aside. She watched contently as ‘Carrow, Amycus’, was sent to the Slytherin table with her, and ‘Jones, Demeter’ was sent to Hufflepuff. ‘Lovegood, Xenophilius’ was sent to Ravenclaw, and ‘Meadowes, Dorcas’ to Gryffindor. All uneasiness in Andromeda was gone by the time ‘Prewett, Gideon’ was sent to Gryffindor. Slytherin couldn’t be so bad. Her entire family had been sent to Slytherin, and although some of them were annoying, like aunt Walburga, others were pretty okay, like uncle Alphard.

Just then, ‘Tonks, Edward’ was called to the stool, and Andromeda’s heart sank. She remembered the circumstances that had transpired in the train, and felt her cheeks burn with shame. Maybe, just maybe, Tonks would be sorted into Slytherin, and then Bellatrix would be okay with the idea of apologising to him. But just as the Sorting Hat yelled:

“HUFFLEPUFF!” Andromeda knew it was hopeless. And sure enough, that was the last she saw of Edward Tonks for a long time.


	3. venomless snake

Her first class as a new student was Potions, with the head of the Slytherin House, Horace Slughorn. Horace was a slightly plump and easily cheerful man who did not seem to match his House’s general sternness. Andromeda liked him immediately. He was almost bald, a few thin straw blond hairs sat like clouds on his head. His eyes were green and friendly, and sparked with joy when he addressed them. They were having Potions with the Ravenclaws, and everybody seemed excited.

“Welcome everyone to your first year at Hogwarts. I am glad to see so many familiar faces, surely some of you have siblings in older years.” He paused briefly, arranging his robes. “A very special welcome to the newly sorted members of my House, be sure to make me proud.” He took two bottles from his robes. “In Potions, and if you care, you might one day be able to bottle fame,” he shook one of the bottles, “to bottle love…” he shook the other. “It is all up to you, and how much effort you put into the class. Of course, nothing can make up for sheer talent. And that’s why, if you’re lucky, you might be worthy of entering my most select club of promising students. Of course, I don’t ever invite first years, but in a few years, maybe, some of you’ll make the cut.” He grinned. Andromeda had heard about the Slug Club. It was one of the only things Bellatrix had mentioned to her about Hogwarts. She was hoping to make the cut this year, so that she’d be invited next year. She’d said usually the first invitations went out in fourth year. Andromeda didn’t know much about her sister’s academic talents, but she had yet to fail a class, so she couldn’t be all bad.

Trying to avoid Amycus and his new friends, Najib and Gates, Andromeda found herself struggling to make a trio for the class. Gates was not too bad, but he was trying hard to fit in and, as a result, he did not call Najib and Amycus out on their idiocy. Other classmates of hers had already grouped up, she saw Juno, one of the girls in her house and year, talking merrily with Isis and Roberta. Fumo and Karim had paired up with an asian-looking Ravenclaw. She looked around, worried she might end up alone, and saw Rose(mond) standing beside her, prepping her cauldron.

“Ready to kick arse in Potions, Andy?” Andromeda grinned. Rose was pleasant and, although she did not say anything about other Slytherins’ annoying remarks, she knew she did not agree with them. She was only trying to survive and, unlike Gates, she tried to avoid the ones who made the stupid comments. She also liked her new nickname. She loved her name, but hated that everybody in her family called Dromeda.  _ What is up with that nickname? Ridiculous _ , she thought every time Narcissa or Bellatrix called her so. Calling Bellatrix ‘Trix’ was her own revenge. Everybody used ‘Bella’ to talk to or about her sister, but she chose ‘Trix’ simply out of spite. Sisterly spite.

She took her book and made a gesture of determination to Rose.

“Ready.”

“Can I… can I work with you?” A petite, deep-skinned, fluffy-haired girl asked. She was wearing the Ravenclaw colours: blue and bronze alternated in her tie, and her eyes were deep green. Andromeda and Rose looked at each other.

“Sure thing,” they replied in unison.

“I am Rose, and this is Andy. And you are?”

“Fate. Fate Frye.” She smiled shyly and placed her stuff next to theirs.

“Well, Fate, we have to brew a cure for boils, following this recipe.” Andromeda interjected. They set themselves to work. A silver-blond Ravenclaw in the right side of the classroom made a potion that smelled really bad, but Andromeda, Rose and Fate’s was celebrated by professor Slughorn.

“Very good job, girls. Keep down this path and I’ll have to issue three invitations in a couple years.” Andromeda was very pleased, yet she knew they wouldn’t have gotten any praise if it weren’t for Rose and Fate. They had ‘sheer talent’ as professor Slughorn had called it.

. . .

Her first flying lesson was a thing Andromeda had been looking forward since she’d gotten on the Hogwarts Express. The class was with the Gryffindors, and they all seemed to scowl at them. Andromeda didn’t blame them, her House didn’t have the best reputation, and senseless brutes like Amycus didn’t help to improve their image.

An old wizard that seemed as though he didn’t have any sense of rush or anything remotely stressful going on in his life, stepped towards them with a painfully slow step.

“Ah, good, you’re already standing by your brooms, good.” He said, when he looked at them through his thick glasses. He had olive skin and curly grey hair. His deep brown eyes and rather muscular constitution, suggested he ought to have been a rather handsome wizard once upon a time. “My name is Rajender Morton. I believe school policy is you call me professor Morton but, honestly, I don’t care.” He took a broom from one of the racks nearby and set it on the floor next to him. “You will call your broom by saying ‘up’. Firmly and clearly. If your broom shoots up to your hand, you can fly it. Now, I will not allow flying higher than 10 metres and further than my eyesight allows me to watch you. If you do, I will make sure Quidditch is out of the question for the entirety of your education at Hogwarts.” He hovered his hand over his broom and said ‘up’. It came up instantly and swiftly. “So, you can begin now. Don’t forget to enjoy yourselves.” He sat down reading the paper and they were left on their own. Andromeda looked around, confused faces were in almost every single one of her classmates. None of them had expected the professor to be so chill. Little by little, every student began yelling and saying ‘up!’ repeatedly. Andromeda looked at her broom.

“Up,” she said. Nothing. A boy, the one with violently orange hair and a multitude of freckles that she remembered from the boat she took across the lake upon her arrival to the castle, chuckled. She glared at him.

“Do it yourself, if you have time to laugh at me.” The boy grinned broadly.

“As you wish, m’lady.” Andromeda did not like his tone in the least, and hoped he’d suck terribly. “Up.” And the broom went up to his hand, swiftly and steadily, just like Morton’s. He was looking very smug, but came closer to her, broom in hand. “You’re too tense, darling. Think of something that relaxes you and try again.” Andromeda took a deep breath.  _ I don’t want you/ be no slave _ , she sang in her head.  _ I don’t want you/ work all day,/ I don’t want/ ‘cause I’m sad and blue _ —

“Up.” The broom was in her hand.  _ I just want to make love to you _ . She beamed. “Thank you, eh…”

“Gideon, you?”

“Andromeda. People call me Andy.”

“Well, Andy, sweetheart, given that we both have our brooms in our hands, wanna go fly below 10 metres and no further than this field for a while?” Andromeda laughed.

“You gotta drop the pet names, Gideon, they’re dreadfully corny. You sound like an old man.” He smirked.

“I’ve barely made your acquaintance and you’re already flattering me, Andy.” Gideon was ridiculous, but he was a lot of fun. She had been flying for a while without even noticing she was doing so. On the ground, she could see Gates’s broom slowly starting to cooperate, and Juno and Amycus went soaring past her a second later. They looked at Gideon like they were gonna throw up. “Not everybody in your House seems very nice,” he observed.

“Well, I figured you’ve already been told all about my House. How it is full of snobbish, rich, blood purists.” Gideon chuckled.

“What about you Andy? You’re alright.” He shrugged. “I like to form my own opinion of people. Had I listened to my housemates about the people in your House, I would’ve lost the opportunity to have this conversation. Don’t you think?”

“So I passed your personal test, then?”

“You kidding? I teased you and you reacted perfectly. You’re feisty. I like that, sugarcube.” She rolled her eyes.

“You really sound like an idiot. We’re eleven for Merlin’s sake!” She looked down and saw Rose having a hard time with her broom. “Wanna join me down? I feel like my friend Rose could use a little help.” They got down to where Rose kept having a hard time. She was not the only one. Roberta, Karim, and a couple Gryffindors Andromeda did not know where struggling, too. “Need any help?” Rose lift her hazel eyes to look at them.

“Who is this lion, Andy?”

“I’m Gideon Prewett.” Andromeda arched an eyebrow, it had not escaped her notice that Gideon had not used the dorky pet names with Rose.

They spent the rest of the class trying to help Rose, to no result. When the class was about to end, a brunette in Gryffindor robes came by.

“Gideon, are you done fraternising with the enemy yet?”

“C’mon, Diana, don’t be like that. Andy and Rose here are perfectly friendly snakes. No venom in these fangs.”

“Until they strangle you.” She shot them an acidic look.

“See you later, gals.” He said, and smiled apologetically as his housemate dragged him away from them.

“It’s a shame everybody hates us,” Rose reckoned, and sighed.

“At this rate, Gideon will be the only non-Slytherin friend I’ll ever make.”

“Your sister will be pleased to hear so.”


	4. ambition

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I edited the previous chapter for the sake of lexical accuracy and changed "poison" and "poisonous" for "venom" and "venomous".

Andromeda turned out to have a knack for Charms, and professor Cobb had a blast with her every class. The Hufflepuffs usually didn’t try to encourage the comebacks of ‘shut up, mudblood’ whenever they said anything but a positive thing about someone from the Slytherin House. However, even them had begun to roll their eyes and murmur things whenever professor Cobb asked her to demonstrate a spell, or gave her 5 points for answering correctly or performing a spell correctly. Not that she didn’t do so for the rest of the students, but she seemed to look forward to Andromeda’s contributions the most. Andromeda was pissed at her housemates for their lack of support, she was winning points for all of them in the end. She understood the Hufflepuffs’ annoyance though, and kind of shared it. She’d loved the class at the beginning—she still did, for the most part—but professor Cobb’s attention was both encouraging and embarrassing.

In Andromeda’s defence, it was one of the two classes she truly, deeply enjoyed and actually excelled at. She did good in Potions, but did not enjoy the class very much. Transfiguration? She was okay, but she knew (and professor McGonagall often reminded her) that she had room for improvement. She loved Astronomy but struggled more than she would prefer. Herbology she could not understand for the life of her and no one liked History of Magic. Her favourite class was Defence Against the Dark Arts. Professor Goodman had told her, after the first class, that she did not want to cuddle her, because she’d rarely seen such natural talent and did not want it to go to waste. True to her word, she gave Andromeda extra assignments all the time, and tried her the hardest. Everybody thought professor Goodman hated her, but she was happy to work hard for her favourite class.

“Black, could you please try and cast a fire-making spell?” Professor Cobb asked, a smile in her face. “I know you haven’t done it before, so it’s okay if you don’t get it right at once.” Andromeda would’ve loved to get it wrong the first time, so people would stop teasing her. ‘You two in love, Andromeda?’, ‘Hey, Andromeda, I heard professor Cobb was looking for you, her shoes are a little opaque, and wants you to lick them shiny’. She could only hear their voices when she lifted her elm wand. She tried to look for a friendly face in the crowd. She remembered Edward Tonks’s face.

Try hard as she might, she’d been unable to find Edward Tonks among the Hufflepuffs, and after a few classes, she’d given up. Rose, next to her, gave her a sympathetic nod. Andromeda sighed and flicked her wand. She knew the spell, she knew it like the back of her hand, she felt the magic go from her through her wand and out. She was going to nail it.

“ _ Incendio _ ,” and the wood in the glass box in front of her caught fire, bright and warm. Professor Cobb was beside herself with joy. She was glad when the class ended. As she was walking out, she heard Page Podmore making fun of her.

“Black, could you please try and cast a fire-casting spell?” He mimicked, in a high-pitched voice. “Black, could you clean my desk? Black, would you do my laundry?” Andromeda looked to the door behind them to make sure the professor hadn’t left the classroom, grabbed Podmore by the collar, and pushed him against the wall of a hallway to their left.

“Listen to me, Podmore.” She pointed her wand to his neck. Podmore was scrawny but he was tall. Andromeda didn’t look that threatening from afar, but her eyes were burning like the fire she’d lit in class, and Podmore knew she was not kidding. A few classmates were gathering around them. “I’ve done nothing to offend you. If you have a problem with me getting attention in class, you could try and study and raise your hand and demonstrate the spells yourself. How’s that, for a change?” Karim and a tan girl from Hufflepuff made an ‘ohhh’ sound at the same time. They looked at each other and smiled. “Otherwise, leave me alone.”

“How about calling me a mudblood, eh, Black?”

“Name one time you’ve heard me, not someone from my House, me, Andromeda Black, say that word.” She smirked. “I bet you can’t. ‘Cause I don’t use it. So don’t hold against me something I haven’t done.” She let him go, and walked away. Rose followed and Gideon, whom they were supposed to study Herbology with, joined them.

They had Herbology with Hufflepuff but, as the recent event suggested, there weren’t many Hufflepuffs willing to help them study, and most of her housemates didn’t care at all for Herbology.

“Andy, honey, that was badass.” Andromeda kept a calm face, but her cheeks flushed.

“You saw that?”

“It was really cool, Andy. Slytherin-worthy but in a way that doesn’t make you look like you’ll go to the dark side as soon as you leave Hogwarts,” Rose added. Andromeda was flattered, but she would rather change the subject. She didn’t want anyone to overhear them and think she was boasting about it.

“So, Gideon, you gonna teach us some Herbology now? I really need some help.”

“Yeah, me too, I keep mixing the uses of the plants.”

“Me three,” Gideon said. “I’m okay with the spells but I forget the name of the plants.” The girls turned, confused.

“Who’s gonna teach us, then?” They asked, in unison. Gideon kept silent until they were out of the castle. A slightly taller, better-looking—in Andromeda’s opinion—version of Gideon was wearing a blue-and-bronze tie.

“Andy, Rose, meet Fabian, my older brother. He’s a second year and just so happened to be the best exam score of his year in Herbology.” Fabian blushed.

“He’s kidding. I do like the subject, though. Professor Sprout knows so much, she’s amazing. A pleasure to meet you both, Gideon has mentioned you a couple times.” And, just like that, Andromeda was proven wrong. At the end of the study session, she’d convinced another non-Slytherin she was a friendly snake. As they were leaving, Fabian detained them momentarily.

“See you next week?” He asked.

“Would you really? We don’t want to bother you more than necessary.” Rose did not want to force an upperclassman from another House to look after them.

“It’s no problem. I will have my basics covered if professor Sprout ever tries to trick us in an exam.”

“I’m good,” Gideon said.

“I can do with making this a regular thing,” Andromeda said.

“We’ll see you next week,” Rose confirmed.

. . .

Potions was ending. Fate was gathering her things, and Rose was so tired she’d just dozed off on the table. Andromeda shook her awake and told her she’d meet her in History of Magic in a while, as she doubted professor Binns would even notice her arriving late to class. She waited for everyone to leave the class, and approached professor Slughorn.

“Professor?”

“Yes, dear?”

“I was hoping, since you’re the head of our House—” He chuckled.

“I see where this is going. I would love to, but I cannot promise you’ll do better than the other Houses on the exam just because you’re in Slytherin. You should pass on the message to your housemates.”

“No, professor, it has nothing to do with that.” She laughed nervously.

“I was simply wondering if you could answer a more… personal doubt of mine.”

“Oh, in that case,” he sat behind his desk. “Ask away, miss Black.”

“You see, professor,” she looked for the right words. There was no right way to say it, though. “I think I’ve been sorted into the wrong House.” Horace Slughorn arched an eyebrow. He had clearly not been expecting such a confession.

“Which House do you think you really belong to, miss Black?”

“I don’t know, any other House, professor. It’s just that I… don’t seem to have anything in common really with the rest of the students in my House. Except Rosemond. And I was wondering, maybe I’m not cut out to be a Slytherin?” Professor Slughorn seemed very grim. Maybe she ought not to have shared her doubts. Maybe she was now in trouble.

“Miss Black you are certainly very different to some Slytherin students I’ve met over the years.” He paused and, after a few moments, his expression softened. “Your own sister, for example, reminds me very much of the sort of Slytherin students from the other Houses tend to stereotype and defame. Driven, snobbish, a little mmm... uh, short of empathy…” he waited for Andromeda to defend her sister, but it did not occur. “And yet, in your short weeks here I can safely assure you that you are every bit as much a Slytherin as any of your housemates, if not even mor—”

“But Salazar Slytherin was evil! He was a mean, blood purist and a dark wizard.”

“Now, now, mis Black, Slytherin might have been wrong about discriminating students the way he did, but when he was not supported by the other founders he simply left, no dark curses casted on anyone…”  _ That is debatable _ , Andromeda thought, but chose not to interrupt. “Anyway, that’s beside the point. I receive feedback from all your professors, about each and every one of you. Professor Dippet is very keen on us getting to know the students in our House, to be able to guide you properly. Between what the professors have told me, and what I have seen myself from time to time… I’d say you’re very well placed in Slytherin, miss Black. You are cunning, shrewd, determined. And I am pretty sure you have big goals you wish to achieve. This House is for the ambitious. Tell me, miss Black, do you have a goal so big it is sometimes daunting?”

“I…” Andromeda thought about it for a moment. “I want to be different from my family. Don’t ask me how, I don’t know. I just—”

“Like what you said yesterday to mister Podmore?” Andromeda said nothing, open-mouthed. “I know more than I let on, miss Black. But yes, I think I understand. Don’t you think the Sorting Hat sent you here for the very same reason? How else prove you’re a far cry from your family than by getting the same life and education as the rest of them and yet turning different all the same?” Suddenly, Andromeda felt less anxious It did make sense. She did have all those traits. She could become something more than just another Black. “You are here because you have ambition. I’d add, and I hope I’m not mistaken, you are the sort of good publicity our house needs from time to time, miss Black.”


	5. alphard

The ride home was bittersweet for Andromeda. She’d have to go back to her father’s ever present silence, always some book in hand. His cold gaze only fixing on her to let her know she was misbehaving. Not a word, just a warning look. Her mother, with her expressionless face, like a statue that would make her feel slightly better from time to time, but would also reproach the kind of things Andromeda liked best about herself. She was nervous to enact the plan they had devised so that she could visit the Prewetts during the summer, but she had a couple weeks to look for the best moment to bring it up.

She woke up, after the first night back in her room, feeling her bed slightly less hers, now that she had slept for a year in the Slytherin dormitory she shared with Rose, Juno, Isis and Roberta. She rarely spoke with Isis or Roberta, but they didn’t bother her. Juno was generally not much fun but she was a huge gossip and she would tell really interesting news for them every night before they went to sleep.

She dressed and went downstairs for breakfast. Their house elf, Lolly, was pouring tea.

“What will you have for breakfast, miss?” Bellatrix was already eating Cheeri Owls and writing a letter to Merlin knows who.  _ Probably Rodolphus _ , Andromeda guessed. Bellatrix lifted her message and her barn owl, Adhara, landed swiftly on the table. Everyone who had an owl in her house had a barn owl. Andromeda found them too ‘perfect-looking’, and hoped their parents would give her a different one, if they ever decided to gift her one. Narcissa was ecstatic for having her sisters back home, and she was eating leftover Cauldron Cakes from the day before.

“I will have some Pixie Puffs, thank you.” Lolly faltered, dropping the teapot in her hands, which pushed the teacup in front of her off the table, breaking it into a million pieces. Bellatrix and Narcissa were staring at Andromeda.

“What did you just say?” Bellatrix demanded.

“Did you just thank Lolly, Dromeda?” Narcissa asked. Lolly started picking up the pieces of the broken teacup, cutting her hands with the sharp porcelain pieces on purpose.

“Bad Lolly, bad Lolly” she said, sobbing.

“I just thanked her, for Merlin’s sake.” She kneeled to help Lolly with the teacup’s pieces. “I’m sorry, Lolly, this is my fault, I startled you.” Lolly began weeping.

“My mistress is too kind, Lolly will grow spoiled.” Andromeda knew she’d messed up. She couldn’t just start treating Lolly the way she actually deserved to be treated like all of a sudden. It was too big of a shock for her.

“Leave this, Lolly. Go clean my bedroom, it was all dusty when I arrived.” Lolly nodded and made herself scarce.

“Seriously, Dromeda, what has gotten into you?” Bellatrix seemed almost preoccupied. “You better compose yourself before our parents get back.”

“Mother isn’t here?”

“She left to visit aunt Walburga. She owled, saying cousin Regulus had just made some of Sirius’s money vanish,” Narcissa explained.

“Well, I’ll go to aunt Walburga’s, too.” She proceeded to grab some floo powder on a pot on top of the fireplace, stepped into it, threw the powder and said, loud and clearly: “Grimmauld Place.”

Her mother and aunt Walburga were sitting on some old fancy sofas. Regulus was sitting on aunt Walburga’s lap, and Sirius was sitting beside them with an annoyed expression. They turned to Andromeda when she appeared in the fireplace.

“Andromeda, what are you doing here?” Her mother asked.

“I heard Regulus was making things disappear.”

“I mean, what are you  _ really _ doing here?” Her mother pressed, and Aunt Walburga did not seem pleased at the implication that she could not have come just to watch her son do magic.

“I, uhm, wanted to go visit uncle Alphard. But you weren’t home, so I came to ask for permission.”

“You want to go to Alphard’s? I thought you used to go because you were bored with Bella away at Hogwarts.”

“That is true…” she lied, knowing it was her best chance. “But during that time I realised uncle Alphard truly is a lonely man and, even if he never says so, I think he enjoys the company.”

“He should have married,” aunt Walburga intervened. “He is now a burden to his siblings, nieces and nephews.”

“He is not a burden at all” Andromeda replied immediately. “He’s taught me how to play Wizard’s chess and he likes to ensure I never forget what I learnt on piano lessons.” Druella pondered it for a second. Andromeda knew the mention of the piano should sway her into a favourable answer.

“I guess there’s no problem with you visiting your uncle. Be back by dinner.”

“Thanks, mother.” She stepped back into the fireplace. Before she could leave, Sirius stood up and run up to her.

“Can I go, too?” Aunt Walburga didn’t give him a second look.

“Andromeda, make sure he doesn’t break anything. Alphard would love to send me a bill for all the damages caused.”

“Yes, aunt Walburga.” She grabbed Sirius’s hand with hers, and dropped the floo powder. “Ainshen Manor!”

 

Uncle Alphard was a handsome middle aged man, with black hair and black eyes, just like his siblings. He lived in a huge manor by himself, which was richly furnished. He was drinking tea the moment Andromeda and Sirius appeared in his fireplace.

“Andromeda, what a pleasant surprise.” He looked at Sirius. “I guess we’ve got a new member in the rebels’ club. But, Dromeda, do you think Sirius here is old enough to keep a secret?”

“Sirius used to call his parents ‘dud’ and ‘booger’ just to make me laugh.”

“That’s true,” Sirius agreed. “Please, uncle Alphard. I’m tired of mother saying Regulus is better than me. I was breaking glasses with magic way before I was three.” He struggled with his bowtie and took it off. “And I hate these. Mother makes me wear them as if we’re going somewhere but  _ we never leave the house _ .” Alphard laughed.

“Well, I can’t argue against that logic.”

“Plus, Sirius is almost six. In no time he’ll be leaving for Hogwarts. We need to take advantage that I got to babysit him when he was a toddler and I taught him not to be a mama’s boy. We can make sure he does everything right. I clearly missed out on Regulus, but we can nurture the only Black in the family we might ever be proud of.”

“What do you mean?” Sirius asked, expectantly.

“I’ll make sure you never get into Slytherin, it’ll give aunt Walburga a heart attack,” Andromeda said, snickering.

“Duh, cousin, of course I won’t get into Slytherin. I’m gonna be a Gryffindor.”

“You two are going to get in so much trouble with your families.” Andromeda turned to her uncle, worried he might tell on them. Instead, he added: “I wish I’d had the guts back in the day.”

. . .

Andromeda thought maybe  _ that _ was why she was a true Slytherin, after all. Her face did not even twitch when she told her parents her housemate Rosemond—she was sure to use her full name, the posher it sounded, the better—had invited her over to her house for a week during the holidays.

“We’ll miss your birthday, is that okay with you?” Druella asked, and Andromeda shrugged.

“I don’t mind. I can open my presents when I get back home.”

“I suppose it’s alright. Cygnus, what do you think?” Cygnus had been reading  _ The Daily Prophet _ , and seemed annoyed he had been disturbed.

“Well, Andromeda would ever be so wise as to cement good, pureblood connections.” He observed. “We shouldn’t stand in the way of that.” Druella flushed, almost imperceptibly, her expression not changing one bit.

“Well, yeah, of course, dearest.” Druella summoned a notebook and a quill and began writing on it. “I’ll have to get you a cake for you to bring over…” she muttered, and began planning.

Andromeda never thought she’d make it. She’d schemed it all with Gideon and Rose. If her parents doubted her, she would go to Rose’s first. But that wasn’t necessary. She was going to go to the country and she was gonna have so much fun. Gideon said there was a muggle village nearby and they could go eat ice cream. Rose was going to try to come as well. Full of excitement, Andromeda stepped into the fireplace a few days before the end of July.

“Country Haven” she said, and before her mother could even wonder what kind of respectable family names its home ‘Country Haven’, Andromeda was far away.


	6. muggle

Molly Prewett was a freckled ginger who had a round, sweet face. Her nose was small and delicate, and she was the cosiest-looking teenager Andromeda had ever seen in her life. She was dusting the fireplace when Andromeda appeared and showered her with ashes.

“I’m so sorry!” Andromeda apologised, when she saw Molly shaking the ashes off the skirt of her dress. Molly smiled warmly at her.

“You must be Andy!” She wrapped her in a tight hug. Andromeda didn’t know what to do. Her family would have considered such an affectionate welcome, from someone who was technically a stranger, an absolute impropriety. Molly did not seem aware in the least of such etiquette rules. “Gideon and Fabian have told me all about you.” She took a step back and looked at her carefully. “My, my, you really do look like your sister. Fabian was right. She always, uh, startles me.” Andromeda shrugged apologetically. Fabian and Gideon had just stepped into the room.

“Molly!” Fabian complained, his ears red.

“Andy!” Gideon beamed instead, stepping forward to hug Andromeda in the same affectionate manner his sister had done before. “I can’t believe you made it! Did you have to go through Rose’s?”

“Not at all, mother asked father’s opinion and it was actually for the best, because he said ‘making connections is highly important’ in the condescending tone mother hates.” Fabian stepped forward.

“Shall I take your baggage upstairs?”

“You don’t need to bother, you can just let the house elf do it.” There was a moment of silence. Then, Gideon burst into laughter.

“Did you just say ‘house elf’?” He said, between chuckles. Andromeda blushed, she didn’t know what was so funny about it. “I told you she was funny.” He told Molly, as Fabian let go of the laughter he had been holding in. Molly gave them a stern look.

“Why do you laugh at poor Andy like that? Isn’t she your friend? She’s part of the ‘Most Noble and Ancient House of Black’,” she made quotation marks in the air. “Of course she would expect everyone to have a house elf. Gideon, go tell mum and dad our guest has arrived. Fabian, take her baggage upstairs. For Merlin’s sake, I can’t believe this is the impression you want to give your friend of our family, what a shame.” Gideon and Fabian went from their laughter to embarrassed expressions in half a second and scattered immediately. “Andy, sweetie, we uh, are not exactly the most wealthy family there is. We don’t have the kind of money it takes to own a house elf. And, even if we did, we don’t think it is okay to own a house elf. You know, it is pretty much slavery. Not that we hold it against you. It’s just that we’re not used to interacting with prominent families... not that we hate you, either, it’s more like you kind of hate us. I mean, not  _ you _ specifically—”

“I get what you mean.” Andy said, still slightly embarrassed, and salty about Gideon and Fabian laughing at her. “I’m sorry if I made you feel like I was boasting about my family’s money.”

“Not at all. This is going to be a fun week, Andy. We’re going to be sharing a room, unless of course, you mind it. We only have three rooms, the boys’, my parents’, and mine, but I’m sure we can make it work if you want to sleep by yourself.”

“No, that’s not necessary. I’m looking forward to being your roommate for a week.”

“Wonderful.”

The Prewetts’ house was small and cosy. The kitchen and the dining table were all in the same room. Mr and Mrs Prewett had welcomed her most warmly when she stepped into the kitchen. Curiously, Mr Prewett had been sitting reading the  _ Daily Prophet _ not unlike her own father accustomed to do. But, unlike her father, his face was filled with joy and enthusiasm. Handmade quilts seemed to be everywhere, and in every single room there were the most lively artefacts. A pair of knitting needles were knitting a pair of gloves on their own, and Andromeda marvelled at the fact that they used clothes they made themselves. She couldn’t think of a single time her mother had knitted anything, not even a scarf. There was a colourful kettle on the stove and the sunlight warmed every inch of the kitchen as Mrs Prewett supervised a knife chopping apples, at the same time she spread dough on a pie mould. Country Haven was nothing like her parents’ sober, elegant style of decoration. Everything seemed to be a shade of orange or brown, and the Prewetts’ ginger heads blended in with the furniture.

Gideon and Fabian had soon joined them in their tour of the house. Gideon pointed to a door beside the staircase.

“That’s my parents’ room. You’re not missing out on anything because the door is shut.” The staircase was filled with portraits of the Prewetts’ at different ages. Molly as a toddler, Fabian and his first time on a broom, Gideon making Molly’s hair stand on end through magic, and all three with a huge full stadium in the background.

“When was this one taken?”

“The summer before our first year, didn’t you go to the Quidditch World Cup?” Andy frowned.

“My parents didn’t even mention it.” She shrugged. “Aunt Walburga says Black women are not to play violent games, that we should keep a clean image in case a man from a prominent family takes an interest in us. Mother agrees with her.” Molly seemed alarmed, and Fabian looked appalled.

“That’s such a waste!” Gideon complained. “You’re so good on a broom. You should really go try for your House’s Quidditch team, I’m sure Slytherin could use a swift flyer.” He and Molly smirked, Fabian laughed.

“Touché. We did get crushed last year. You must admit it, though, no one saw Hufflepuff coming. They took the cup without anyone realising it. And just with enough points to win the House Cup, too.” They all looked down, Hufflepuff had gotten them good as well. “Are you trying for Ravenclaw’s Quidditch team, Fabian?” Fabian’s ears turned red.

“Yeah.”

“We think he has a real chance to make the team. Most of his housemates prefer to study anyway.” Molly elbowed Gideon. “Ouch. I meant Fabian is a good player. But I’m much better. I’ll make the team this year, mark my words.” They made it up the stairs and Andromeda was surprised to see how small the first floor was, of course, she didn’t make a remark about it. Gideon and Fabian’s room looked like the room was at war with itself. One side of the room was covered in yellow so bright Andromeda thought for a second she was looking straight at the sun. It looked a lot like the Great Hall for the end of year feast, after Hufflepuff had won the cup. The other side was pale blue, silver flashes and details appearing every now and then. In the middle of the yellow, she realised, there were red banners and flags for the Gryffindor team. The pale blue side had blue banners with ravens on them. It made sense immediately.

“Their Quidditch rivalry is so intense it didn’t surprise us when they ended up in different Houses. It was only meant to be,” Molly told her.

“The Wasps are the best.”

“The Wasps are such a boring team to cheer for. They win all the time. Victory is tasteless without previous struggle,” Fabian said, as if he was tired of explaining it. Andromeda shrugged, she knew nothing about it.

Molly’s was a tiny room with pastel green walls. Everywhere there seemed to be blooming flowers, the sun through the window making it look sunny and welcoming. The second bed had been tightly fitted into the room, they could barely walk between them. On top of the dresser, there were a few framed photographs. In one of them, a tall slim freckled boy was smiling. In another one, the same boy had his arms around Molly’s waist, and they kept rubbing their noses together. It was adorable.

“Who’s this?”

“That’s Arthur.” She’d expected Molly to blush, but she just smiled fondly, her features softening infinitely. Was that what real love looked like? Her parents had never looked much in love, Andromeda thought. Not even in their wedding photographs.

“You’ll meet him soon enough.” Fabian said.

“He comes for dinner every other day,” Gideon added, rolling his eyes.

“Don’t talk ill of Arthur, Gideon.”

“He’s  _ always _ talking about muggles.” Andromeda was curious.

“Why is he so interested in them?”

“It’s not so much he’s interested in them as he is interested in their things. He’s obsessed with muggle junk.”

“Arthur is great, you’ll see,” Molly assured her. “Now, boys, go change. We have to go pick up some ice cream.”

“Where are we going?” Andromeda asked, as the boys left the room.

“We’re going down to Clevedon. Do you have any muggle-looking clothes with you?” Andromeda laughed sarcastically, then shook her head. All her dresses were sober and black, green, blue, or wine-coloured. The only dress she owned that wasn’t, was a gorgeous yellow dress her mother had gotten her once for a portrait of her and her sisters. It was her favourite dress. Still, from what she’d seen on her escapades while she was supposed to be at her uncle Alphard’s, they were still outdated, in muggle terms. Once, a muggle at the beauty store where she usually bought her nail polish, had asked her if she was an ‘Amish’ or something like that. She assumed that was a more acceptable thing to a muggle than being a witch. So she’d nodded, and the muggle’d looked sorry for her when he’d handed her the nail polish she’d purchased. “I guess you can borrow one of my old dresses.” She took a pastel blue dress from her dresser. “I reckon it may be a bigger fit than you’re used to, but it’s what we’ve got.”

Dressed in muggle clothes, the Prewetts and Andromeda made their way down to Clevedon. It was a very entertaining walk. The sunlight was nice and warm, butterflies and bees fluttered around in the grass and clover flowers. She’d gotten mud in Molly’s shoes, but Molly didn’t seem to mind in the least. It took her a few seconds to take that in, given that her mother, Druella, would’ve lost her temper at such carelessness. As they got closer to their destination, they began seeing more and more muggles, cars, and motorbikes. Andromeda was grateful to her uncle for letting her roam around muggle London, because otherwise she wouldn’t have been able to contain her surprise and curiosity at every single muggle and muggle thing that popped around.

“How come your parents didn’t join us?”

“Well,” Fabian said, “they don’t like muggle clothes. And they always mess up with muggle money, give way too little or way too much and cashiers get angry. So they just send us. The ice cream shop we’re going to is truly worth it.”

“Never would’ve guessed it was done without magic,” Gideon agreed.

“Arthur is meeting us at the ice cream shop,” Molly announced.

“Oh, not lunch  _ and _ dinner,” Gideon complained.

“If I have to hear about the wonders of muggle photography and how come we adapted it to make moving photographs one more time…” Fabian began.

“Shut up.”

The ice cream shop had a family of muggles inside, also buying ice cream. Beside them, and trying not to look eagerly curious (although he was), was Arthur. His clothes’ colours were mismatched, and the family kept giving him funny looks. He had kind blue eyes and freckles that matched Molly’s. He looked very happy to see them.

“Hi there, everyone.” He gave Molly an affectionate peck of the cheek, then turned to Andromeda. “You must be Andy. I’m Arthur Weasley, it’s a pleasure.” He offered her his hand to shake, and Andromeda shook it happily.

“Weasley, huh? I think we’re related!” Gideon and Fabian burst into laughter as if Andromeda had mentioned house elves again. Andromeda frowned. “I’m serious. I was reading about my family’s history in this book we’ve got at home. You’re like my second cousin, once removed, or something. The ‘removed’ thing always confuses me. But your mother, Cedrella, is my grandfather’s cousin, she was blasted off the tapestry at aunt Walburga’s because she married your father.”

“You blast relatives off a tapestry?” Gideon was bewildered.

“She was blasted off a what? I can’t believe this. It would explain why she always says my dad is her only family,” Arthur pondered. “And you say she is your grandfather’s cousin?”

“Family tapestry. It has very ugly middle-age-styled portraits of everyone in the family. It is at Grimmauld Place. And yeah, she’s the daughter of Arcturus Black, who was the brother of Cygnus Black. Cygnus had four children, among them Pollux, who had in his turn three children, the youngest being my father.”

“And you know all that boring family history off the top of your head?” Gideon seemed impressed.

“You’d be surprised at how boring living at my parents’ house can be.”

Once they had purchased the ice cream, they began making their way back to Country Haven, when Andromeda saw something that caught her eye: a record shop.

“Hey, can I go take a look over there?” Molly glanced at the ice cream she and Fabian were carrying.

“Sure, Andy, but we’ll have to go ahead, otherwise the ice cream might melt. You can catch up with us no problem, right?”

“I can go with her,” Arthur intervened. “I’ve always wanted to go inside a record shop.” And so, the Prewetts went ahead and Arthur and Andromeda entered the record shop. “Honest I Do” was playing inside. Andromeda began humming to it, happily. “You know this song?” Arthur asked.

“Of course, I love The Rolling Stones!” She proceeded to take Arthur to where their records were. He stared at them in amazement. As he examined them, Andromeda moved to the back of the shop, still humming. A muggle boy her age or a year older, was rummaging through records nearby. The moment he saw her, he walked up to her.

“You like the Stones?” Andromeda nodded. “They’re okay,” he agreed. “But if you want to listen to something  _ really _ good, listen to this” he handed her a record of The Famous Flames. Andromeda smiled gratefully.

“Thank you. I don’t have any money with me right now, though. I guess I’ll have to wait before I get to listen to them.”

“Oh, I can ask Jimmy if he can play it now.” He moved to a door nearby and knocked. Before Andromeda could ask who Jimmy was, the door opened and a man in his thirties looked down at them.

“What do you want, Liam?”

“Can you play “Shout And Shimmy” next, please?”

“Sure.” And so, he disappeared behind the door again. Andromeda really liked The Famous Flames. She was about to ask for more recommendations when Liam interrupted her.

“You’re pretty.”

“Thanks?”

“Andy?” Arthur’s voice called from the front of the shop.

“Well, I guess I have to get going.” She held out her hand for Liam to shake it. He gave her a quick peck on the lips instead.

When they caught up to the Prewetts, they were almost at Country Haven. Andromeda had left the shop running at top speed, Arthur running after her, confused. She’d told him what had happened when they had reached the outskirts of Clevedon. Thus, when the Prewetts saw them, Arthur was talking to himself in a murmur, giggling every now and them, and Andromeda’s face was red, feeling between mortified and angry.

“What happened?” Molly asked.

“Well I’m not so sure myself,” Andromeda confessed, and Arthur giggled again.

“A muggle boy kissed her.”

“A muggle boy what?!” Fabian went pale. Gideon cracked up, and Molly looked angrily at him and Arthur.

“How rude of him! And how unsympathetic of you two to laugh at Andy’s expense like that.”

“It was my first kiss!” Andromeda complained, encouraged by Molly’s tenderness, feeling tears forming in her eyes. Fabian looked even paler. Arthur and Gideon muttered a ‘sorry’, but grinned at each other when their eyes met. Molly handed them the ice cream she was carrying, and stroke Andromeda’s hair tenderly as they entered Country Haven.


	7. rabastan

As soon as she got on the Hogwarts Express, Andromeda said she had to go to the loo. She knew she would only get one chance to free herself from her housemates long enough to say hi to Gideon. At least Rose would be with her the rest of the trip, ensuring it would be pleasant. Andromeda was excited about the Sorting and not being a first year anymore, and wanted to see her friend now that they were both second years. When she found him, Gideon was sitting in a compartment with a boy with dark hair and hazel eyes, a girl with radiant dark skin, and a brunette she recognised as the one who’d dragged him away after Flying class the previous year. She knew she’d heard her name at least once before, but she couldn’t remember it.

“Andy!” Gideon greeted her, happy as ever to see her. Andromeda entered the compartment and sat next to him. The other Gryffindors shot her looks that went from disapproval to curiosity. The brunette girl was the one who looked at her in the most dubious manner of them all.

“Hi, Gid. I’ve only got a couple minutes. My sister thinks I’m in the loo, and I want to go say hi to Fabian and Molly before I go back to my compartment.”

“Of course. Have you seen Rose yet?”

“No, I reckon I’ll see her when I get back.”

“Well, Andy, these are my friends, same year as me.” He began pointing around. First he pointed to the beautiful girl in front of him. She smiled warmly, apparently Andromeda had been finally deemed friendly in her eyes. “This is Dorcas, we call her Dory cause she wouldn’t let us call her Dorky, Merlin figures.” Everyone giggled, and so did Andromeda. He proceeded to point to the boy with hazel eyes, he nodded politely. “This is Caradoc. I call him Doc but I admit I have been unable to make the nickname stick.” He finally turned to the brunette sitting next to him. She flashed her blue eyes at Andromeda, still looking distrustful. “And this is Diana. I’m sure you remember her from last year?”  _ Diana, that was it! _ Andromeda thought.

“Yeah. Hi, a pleasure to meet you all. I’m Andromeda, but I supposed you’d already guessed that when Gideon greeted me,” she shrugged.

“You look so much like Bellatrix” Caradoc said, and Andromeda rolled her eyes.

“No, but look more carefully,” Dorcas intervened. “Bellatrix has heavier eyelids, and her face is paler. Well, of course Bellatrix’s hair is much darker, but I guess I don’t have to point  _ that _ out. Even  _ you _ should be able to make that distinction.” Caradoc seemed offended.

“What do you mean ‘even  _ me _ ’?” She laughed. “Anyway, I see what you mean. She does look less bored and less menacing.”

“Guys, I am  _ right here _ .” Andromeda pointed out.

“Has anyone mistaken the two of you before?” Diana asked, in a tone that Andromeda had trouble to decide whether it was sincere or mocking.

“Not yet, at least.” She turned to Gideon. “Hey, where did all your corny pet names go?” Gideon scratched his head, embarrassed.

“You used them?” Caradoc seemed amused and impressed.

“Caradoc heard them on a muggle film. It’s like a photograph but it has sound and it moves for a long time and tells a story... anyway, ehen he heard we had Flying class with Slytherin, he dared me to use them with one of you to piss you off. I never expected you to take it so well.” Andromeda was speechless. Gideon had gotten closer to prank her?

“What on Merlin’s hat, Gid? I can’t believe I bought all that crap about getting to know people before judging them.”

“I do try and get to know people before judging them. Otherwise I would’ve never bothered to help you with your broom.” Andromeda rolled her eyes, bemused.

“Sure, sugarcube. Alright, I need to get back.” And after saying her goodbyes, Andromeda began making her way back to her compartment. On her way back, she spotted Molly and Arthur.

“Hey niece!” Arthur said. He’d gotten in the habit of calling her so after the week they’d shared at Country Haven.

“You have to promise you won’t go calling Bellatrix that,” she warned him.

“Of course I won’t, she’s scary.”

“Hello, Andy, nice to see you. How were the rest of your summer holidays?” Molly said.

“They were okay. Uncle Alphard got me an owl when I got back from Country Haven, for my late birthday. I’ll show it to you when I can, it’s an adorable tawny owl. Her name is Maia.”

“That’s a very pretty name, Maia.”

“Did you know muggles don’t have owl post?” Arthur intervened.

“How do they get their mail?”

“They apparently put them in those  _ carrs _ and move them all over like that, and then the postman has to walk or go by  _ cybicle _ to deliver them.” Andromeda wondered what a  _ cybicle _ was, but she knew she’d never make it back to her compartment without raising suspicions if she stayed to listen to that explanation. She nodded understandingly.

“Well, I’ve got to go. See you around.”

She was almost back to her compartment when she ran into Fabian.

“Hi there,” she said, smiling. Fabian almost dropped the cauldron cakes he was carrying.

“Hi, Andy. Had a nice end of summer?”

“Yeah, I did. My uncle Alphard got me an owl. I’m so glad he did, I didn’t want a barn owl. Everyone else in my family has one, they look so vain and conceited.”

“Rich girl problems, you know?” Fabian teased, Andromeda punched him playfully on the arm.

“Don’t be an idiot.” Fabian ears turned red, but Andromeda did not notice. “See you later, then.”

 

“What took you so long?” Bellatrix asked when Andromeda entered their compartment.

“The hallway was crowded, and there was a queue to use the loo.” Andromeda lied, immediately. She sat next to Rose, she’d been saving her a seat. Rabastan was sitting next to her empty spot. He greeted her politely, and Andromeda nodded. He looked different, although she couldn’t tell exactly how. He looked… nicer? His expression was not as cold as it had been the first time they’d met. He was definitely taller, surely he’d grown a couple centimetres during the summer. His light eyes looked at her kindly. Rabastan Lestrange, kind? She was probably imagining things. She made a mental note to consult with Rose later. Rodolphus, ever the more unstable-looking of the two, was playing with his wand and looking amusedly at Bellatrix. Andromeda found this curious. Not that she ever saw Bellatrix hanging out with anyone without Rodolphus, but something was different. There was a certain familiarity to the way they sat next to each other now.

“So, Rosemond, did you enjoy my sister’s visit during the holidays?” Rose, who’d been staring out the window, turned to Bellatrix.

“We had a lot of fun. Please thank your parents again for me. I’m glad they allowed Andy to pay a visit.”

“Dromeda said she had a lot of fun as well. ‘Country Haven’ right? Is that your house? Curious choice of name, if you ask me.” Andromeda almost choked, and tried to make it look like it was a cough. Rose was a quick thinker, though.

“Oh, it’s not ours. We rented it for the week we went closer to the coast. I have no idea whether the owner was muggle or wizard, but it was a good rent. Father and mother were very pleased.”

“Were they? Good to hear so. Of course, there are tons of Black properties. You are always welcome to stay with us or in any of them. I believe we have a summer manor in the North of France?”

“Yeah, Ivy Walls. I think it was great aunt Cassiopeia’s. She used to live there when she was working at Beauxbatons. Stayed there over the holidays. It’s empty now she came back to London.”

“Yes, exactly. You and your family are welcome to stay there so you don’t have to pay a muggle rent to be closer to the beach. It’s made of a gorgeous mix of rock and wood. A little too cheerful for my taste, but I guess it happens with beach houses.”

“You should come to our summer house in Spain next summer,” Rodolphus told Bellatrix. “It’s by the beach, a few hours away from Ibiza. Spell-guarded to keep muggles away, you’d love it. The local wizards make an amazing bubbling sangria, the bubbles pop into tiny fireworks before you drink it, it looks very cool at night.” Andromeda snorted.

“Like aunt Walburga would ever allow you to go to a boy’s house over the holidays without a chaperone.”

“She doesn’t have a say, really, as long as father and mother allow me to go.” Andromeda chuckled.

“Yeah, sure, aunt Walburga doesn’t have a say. Like she didn’t have a say when she forced mum to choose between Belvina or Lycoris for your second name.”

“Mother did get back at her by naming our sister Narcissa.”

“And poor Cissy now has to live knowing her second name is Belvina.”

“Does that mean your second name is Lycoris?” Rodolphus inquired. Bellatrix waved him off.

“What is your second name, Andromeda?” Rabastan’s voice took her by surprise.

“Callidora.”

“Cute.” Andromeda blushed.

 

The Great Hall was packed, and the Hufflepuff table was clearly in heightened spirits since their recent victory. Andromeda sat next to Rose and Nolan. Her sister was further now, sitting with the Slytherins in her year. Rabastan was on the opposite side of the table, close enough to look at, out of the corner of her eye. Andromeda turned to Rose.

“Do you notice anything different about Rabastan?” Rose snorted.

“Only that he has a crush on you, that’s all.” Andromeda flushed.

“Why do you say that?”

“Rabastan has never, ever, said ‘cute’. Also, it’s the first time he has looked like he has stability and mental health.”

“Oh, don’t be like that.” Andromeda pouted. She turned to the Sorting Ceremony just in time to see how ‘Malfoy, Lucius’, was sorted into her house. She clapped unenthusiastically. He looked like he thought everything around him was dirty and could stain his clothes. However, he seemed very pleased with himself when he took a seat not very far from where she was sitting. The boy was handsome in that knight-in-shining-armour sort of way, only he was the pure-blooded dreamboat version: his hair was so blond it was almost white, and it brushed his shoulders in a dignified manner. He was thin and almost girly in the delicateness of his features, but his posture and mannerisms said not to tease him  about it. His eyes were the sort of grey that girls like Narcissa sighed about when they saw the pictures winking on their story books. Andromeda felt like puking. She was also dreading next year. Narcissa wouldn’t shut up about him, she just knew.


	8. the quidditch pitch

The new period had started with so much homework, Andromeda could barely believe classes had started just a few weeks ago. She was sitting on the Slytherin table at the Great Hall, and was reviewing her Transfiguration book. Bellatrix made Rose scoot over and sat down beside her, peering at what she was reading.

“Studying already?” She rolled her eyes. “McGonagall is such a stick in the mud, don’t let her get to you. If you try this hard you’re gonna make me look bad.”

“What does me studying have to do with you?”

“It has everything to do with me. We’re Blacks. Everything you do reflects on me and everything I do reflects on you, which is why we have to have each other’s backs. And that’s why I’m telling you, don’t try too hard in Transfiguration. No matter how well you do, she’ll never like your work. You’re a Black and a Slytherin and that has ruined any chance you might’ve had.”

“Well, you certainly know how to put someone in a studying mood, Trix.” Bellatrix seemed very proud of herself. “Tell me then, oh dearest fellow Black, what on Merlin is going on between you and Rodolphus. You’ve been acting… different, since the Hogwarts Express.”

“Oh, you wanna know about that? That is no secret. Rodolphus asked me out while you were on your way to the loo. I said yes, and we’re going out now.” Rose was so surprised she almost spit her pumpkin juice through her nose.

“You didn’t think it relevant to let me know you had a boyfriend?” Andromeda wanted to keep on yelling at her sister for not telling her something so important, but she was cut short when professor Dippet told them he had a big announcement. Bellatrix took the opportunity to escape and go sit further away, with her boyfriend.

“Dear students, it is with great joy but also with great sorrow that I announce to you my retirement.” The hall came to halt. Professor Dippet? Retire? Andromeda had to acknowledge he did look very old, but he had always been the picture of wisdom and trust. Murmurs could be heard all over. Everybody seemed highly concerned. “Now, I understand it may cause astonishment what appears to be a sudden decision but, believe me, I have taken the longest time preparing myself and the staff for this moment, as well as looking for a replacement for my position.” A wizard with very long silvery white hair and beard, dressed in blue robes with an embroidered dragon that flew around the fabric, stepped out from one of the doors to the sides of the staff table, and stood behind professor Dippet. “It is with utmost pleasure that I present to you the new headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry: Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore; Order of Merlin, First Class; Supreme Mugwump of the International Confederation of Wizards; and Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot.”

“That was a mouthful.” Gates pointed out.

“I can assure you that I cannot leave the school in better hands. And I apologise for making this announcement a couple weeks into the school period, but I thought it better to give this important event an instance of its own, so it wouldn’t be lost in the midst of all the excitement of a new year.” Professor Dumbledore did look much more energetic than old professor Dippet, who had to take a deep breath after every one of professor Dumbledore’s titles. However, he also looked much more eccentric. The embroidered dragon on his robes was now spitting embroidered fire. “Professor Dumbledore, care to initiate your position with a few words?” He sat down, and professor Dumbledore took a step forward.

“Well, I am most certain professor Dippet will be very much missed by every single one of us. If anyone wants to seek advice in his familiarity and wisdom, the doors of my office will be always open to those who wish to entertain his portrait. Now, I do not aim to bore you with a long speech, so please do proceed with your lunch.” Everyone turned to their plates and soon the hall was roaring with comments and reactions, the Slytherin table becoming suddenly quite noisy.

“I remember him!” Lucius Malfoy said. Andromeda made a face like she was going to be sick, and Rose laughed. “My father has mentioned him a couple of times. He has quite the soft spot for mudbloods. What a disgrace, the reputation of the school will go down the drain.” Apparently, Lucius was not the only student in the Slytherin table who had the same issue with newly appointed headmaster Dumbledore. Every few seats the words “tolerant”, “mudbloods”, “shame”, and “reputation” could be heard strung together. Andromeda did not like the atmosphere that had formed around her. It was full of hatred, disdain, and pedantry.

“I’m sure he is the best man for the work.” Rabastan intervened. “Professor Dippet is a very wise man, I’m sure he only had the best interest of the school in mind, and professor Dumbledore is, indeed, a very renowned member of the magical community. Whatever his personal views, I’m sure they won’t get in the way of job, otherwise he wouldn’t have been appointed headmaster by professor Dippet.” Andromeda was shocked. Was she listening properly? She looked around. Everybody was muttering more quietly now, more calmly, nodding in slow understanding and eventual agreement. She looked at Rose. What had just happened?

“Did you hear what I just heard?”

“Yeah, I’m just as shocked as you are. Maybe we’re not the only ones who think some of our housemates’ ideology is just way too much.” Andromeda shrugged. Maybe, but she wasn’t fully convinced just yet. As soon as lunch was over, Andromeda gathered her stuff as quickly as she could. She was going to revise Herbology with Fabian, she wouldn’t like to make him wait when he was doing her a favour. A voice stopped her when she’d stood up.

“Andromeda, wait.” It was Rabastan.

“What is it?”

“Well, Quidditch trials are this afternoon. I’m trying for the team, wanna come watch?” Andromeda did a double take, her cheeks burning.

“I have to study now but, uh, yeah. I suppose I can go show some support later.” Rabastan beamed at her and she walked away as fast as she could without running.

 

When she reached the gardens, she could still feel her face burning. Maybe she’d caught a cold. She made a mental note to visit Madam Hypnos, the school matron. Fabian was already sitting at their usual spot with his books open when she saw him.

“I’m sorry I took so long.”

“Oh, no, I just arrived.” He said, scooting over so she would have some shade as well. “I was going over my notes from last year. You’re studying bowtruckles, right?” Andromeda nodded.

“My severing charm is very good, I’ve never had a hard time with that part of the class, I’m just not a very good gardener.”

“What, afraid to get yourself a little dirty, Black?” Andromeda flushed, offended.

“It’s not that. I know I never played with dirt and that I don’t do chores, but the fact that I don’t like plants has nothing to do with that.”

“Well, maybe you’re taking the wrong approach. Don’t look at Herbology like a plant class. True, you have to memorise properties and qualities to the plants you’re studying, but we’ll tackle that later. For now, let’s approach this as if it were a Charms class. I’ve heard you’re quite good at Charms.” He said in a teasing tone.

“Oh, no, you know about that?”

“Are you talking about professor Cobb not getting enough of your talents or the way you almost jinxed Podmore? Cause I’ve heard about both. Gideon told me about Podmore, said he had it coming. Professor Cobb, on the other hand, gave us quite a hard time when it took us longer than anticipated to learn the skurge scouring charm. She said she had a first year who could cast it with her eyes closed. She didn’t say a name, but we all knew it was you.” Andromeda wanted to die of embarrassment.

“Is she still doing that? I talked to her last week and she promised she wouldn’t do it anymore.”

“Oh, no, that was last year. She has forgotten of your existence, for all I know.”

“Good.” After they were done, Andromeda knew everything there was to know about bowtruckles. Fabian was an excellent teacher, he was very patient and he was also very excited about learning and knowledge. It made sense to her that he was a Ravenclaw. Sometimes,—like during the week she’d spent with the Prewetts over the summer—when Fabian and Gideon were sitting next to each other, both with untidy hair after playing Quidditch in the yard, they almost looked like twins. Other times, however,—like right then—Fabian looked so much more grounded and clever, it was barely believable they were brothers, their identical ginger hair remaining the only undeniable proof. The bronze in his tie really brought up his brown eyes. He was very good-looking. “You know what, Fabian?” Andromeda said, collecting her things and putting them into her bag, ready to leave towards the Quidditch pitch.

“What?”

“I sometimes forget, but you are very handsome.” Fabian froze, his books fell off his hands onto the ground. He wasn’t sure he’d heard her right. He wanted to pinch himself. Some of his dreams went sort of like that, he had to be dreaming.

“I am?” Was all he could muster in response. Andromeda turned to help him with his books.

“Yeah, have you ever had a girlfriend?” Fabian went very red very quickly. Andromeda thought maybe she was prying. “I mean, you don’t have to answer. I was just curious. I was wondering what that is like. I know I’m only twelve but, my parents aren’t exactly the epitome of a loving couple and I don’t think Cissy’s storybooks are much help either. I wanted a real reference.”

“No I, uh, no. I mean, not that I’ve never kissed anyone. You kissed that muggle, right? I kissed a girl from my house, Gracie. I, uh, lost a bet.”

“I didn’t kiss him, _he kissed me_.” Andromeda corrected him. “I didn’t mean to imply you’re behind or something, Fabian. I was asking simply out of curiosity. But maybe I should just talk to Molly.”

“Why are you so curious?”

“No reason,” she said, her ears turning red. Fabian looked like he didn’t want to drop the subject, but he thought it better not to insist. The truth was he was afraid of digging deeper.

“Where are you headed now?”

“The Quidditch pitch.”

“What for? Do you want me to come with?

“Sure, if you don’t mind going to Slytherin’s team trials.”

“You’re trying for your team?” He seemed impressed.

“Don’t be ridiculous, I’m still too young to make the cut.”

“Gideon thinks he’ll make the team.” Andromeda laughed.

“Gideon is Gideon. I’m only going because Rabastan invited me, wanted me to cheer him on.”

“You and Rabastan are friends?” Andromeda flushed.

“We talk from time to time. He seems… different. He’s been a lot nicer later, not only to me. Defended professor Dumbledore when other people in my house started talking rubbish about him.” Fabian had gone pale, and had a stern look in his face.

“I don’t know, Andy, you shouldn’t trust people like Rabastan.”

“Why? Cause he’s a Slytherin? Cause he comes from a rich, conservative family with stupid ideas about blood purity?” Andromeda was getting angry but Fabian did not notice and said exactly what he was thinking.

“Well, yeah, for one thing.”

“I’m all those things, too, you know? I’m a venomous backstabbing snake and I’m also an insufferable Black!” She yelled, and she stormed off. Too late, Fabian realised he should’ve chosen his words better.

 

In the Quidditch pitch, Rabastan was already flying but, even from the ground, Andromeda could see him smile when he spotted her. She sat down and watched the trials take place. There were a few people watching. Her housemates Amycus, Guotin Gates and Daquain Nolan were watching excitedly, talking about how they would try next year. Rodolphus was among the Quidditch team players, and Lucius was sitting in the bleachers, looking like if he stayed there long enough, they might let him try for the team even though he was a first year. Even though Rodolphus was up flying, she knew Bellatrix wouldn’t show up. She would never get mud on her shoes for some trials. Alecto was also trying for the team and, at the last second, Gates stood up and said he wanted to try, too. In the end, only Rabastan made the team. He descended with a broad smile.

“Did you see that?” He asked Andromeda, as they made their way back to the common room

“Yeah, you were pretty great.”

“That’s the best I’ve ever played. Maybe you brought me luck.” Andromeda blushed.

“Don’t say nonsense.”

“It’s not nonsense. Would you come to the games, to see me play?”

“I’d come even if you weren’t playing. I like Quidditch.” Rabastan chuckled.

“You’re right. Would you keep an eye on me, when you come to the games, then?” Andromeda looked away from his eyes, shyly.

“I might.”

“Thank you.” There was a moment of silence, but it wasn’t uncomfortable at all. “Andromeda?”

“Yes?”

“You look very pretty today.” Andromeda went red and half expected Rabastan to do as the muggle boy had done at the record shop, and kiss her. But he didn’t. Instead, they had reached the entrance of their common room.

“Thank you,” Andromeda said, before Rabastan could say the password. Then, some unknown force took over her and she kissed his cheek. She yelled the password, “ _regulus_!” and ran inside, waving Rabastan goodbye. She entered her dormitory as quickly as she could and collapsed on her bed, in front of very curious Rose and Juno.

“What happened?” Rose asked.

“I think I like Rabastan Lestrange.” She confessed, before she could even consider that Juno, the greatest gossip in her house, was listening in as well.


	9. secrets

“It’s working!” Rabastan told Bellatrix. She was sitting with Rodolphus in the Slytherin common room. The fire cast dancing shadows on their faces. Rabastan sat in front of them, on one of the armchairs richly upholstered in soft green fabric.

“You talk as if you want the entire common room to be privy to your business.” Rodolphus said, playing absent-mindedly with a lock of Bellatrix’s hair.

“I think Andromeda is starting to like me.” He continued, in a more hushed voice. “I thought it was an idiotic idea to pretend I care about mudbloods and I agree with her deranged trail of thought but… it’s working. Being nice in that caring kind of way works, too.”

“Well of course it would work. It was my idea.” Bellatrix rolled her eyes. “Andromeda has always been a little more… sensitive. But she is a clever girl.”

“So you think I can go back to being myself? It’s very tiring pretending to be something I’m not. Not that it’s difficult to be nice to her, that is alright, but pretending to care about mudbloods is the worst.”

“Don’t be an idiot. She’s barely started to trust you. She needs to really depend on you to heed your opinion. And once we get there, then you can  _ begin _ to get her to her senses, little by little.” Rabastan made a face.

“That’s gonna take so long.”

“This is my sister we’re talking about. Andromeda is a Black. You should ever be so honoured that I chose you to partake in this plan. Just because you have a cute little crush on Dromeda and Rod found out, it doesn’t mean you’re  _ worthy _ of her. Do you think just being a pureblood is enough? Do you think your last name is enough? You have a long way yet to become a Lestrange. Right now you’re just young promising Stan. And young promising Stan should feel grateful to have the prospect of ever dating a Black, so pure her lineage, too.” Rabastan almost disappeared in his seat, so much he shrank in it. “So you will take your time to charm Dromeda into leaving all those stupid mudblood-loving blood traitors even if you spend your entire life doing so.” He was about to say something in reply, but Rodolphus shot him a warning look.

“So,” Rodolphus said instead. “Should we be looking forward to a double wedding?” Bellatrix made a disgusted face.

“Double wedding? Rod, only the poor celebrate double weddings. If you have the means, you have two weddings instead of a double one. Gives everyone the opportunity to get drunk twice. And we’re only dating, don’t get ahead of yourself. I reckon aunt Walburga would be beside herself with joy were I to marry you but… we’ll see. Also, Dromeda is only twelve, I don’t even picture her  _ dating _ anyone yet.” She turned to Rabastan. “You can only hold hands, you hear me?” Rabastan nodded, slightly scared. Bellatrix had a rather crazy look in her eyes every now and then. He did not want to be someone whom she considered a hindrance.

 

“Did you hear the rumour?” Fabian told Gideon over breakfast. He’d overheard someone from the Slytherin table while he was staring, searching for Andromeda. The next second he was over the Gryffindor table, scooting some Gryffindors over so that he could sit. Gideon thought he looked awful, all jittery and pale.

“What rumour?” Fabian was not a gossip, and Gideon knew this very well. It really picked his interest if it had Fabian in such a state. “Oh, no. Are they cancelling the Quidditch season? I just made the team!” Gideon didn’t really think the season would be cancelled, he just wanted to brag about making the team, and Fabian knew this.

“I know you’ve made the team. You’ve told me, several times. This is not about that. I just got wind that Andromeda likes Rabastan.”

“Lestrange?”

“How many Rabastans do you know?” He asked, exasperated.

“Just the one, but seeing you make that face was totally worth it. Honestly, Fabian, you look terrible. I know you have a crush on Andy, but jealousy is not a good colour on you.” Fabian rolled his eyes.

“I’m not jealous. And I do not have a crush on Andy.” Gideon made a face that seemed you say ‘you sure?’ at that, but Fabian didn’t heed it. “But do you really think it’s okay for Andy to hang out with someone like Lestrange? Andy is a nice Slytherin, he isn’t.”

“I’m sure Andy is perfectly capable of choosing who she hangs out with or not.”

“Oh, come on, Gideon. Lestrange is in the same year as me, he is as toxic as people get— maybe Black, I mean, Bellatrix can surpass him. My point is, even if Andy is a very nice person, it only takes one unconfronted opinion to start brainwashing someone. One day he’ll say ‘no offence, but some families are better than others’ and Andy, to avoid a fight, won’t say anything. The next time, he’ll talk to her into not meeting us once and, next thing you know, she’ll be calling us blood traitors behind our backs.”

“Andy would never do that.” Gideon said. “If you doubt her so much, why don’t  _ you _ talk to her? I have complete trust in her.”

“I trust her, I don’t trust _him_. Anyway, you think I haven’t already tried? The other day I heard she was gonna hang out with him and I told her to be careful and we had a fight. Hasn’t talked to me ever since. I saw her yesterday on the hallway on my way out of the Great Hall after dinner, she gave me a hurt look and kept on walking, not a single word. Please, Gideon.”

“Okay, okay, alright. You’re such a pest. I’ll talk to her, but if she gets mad at me too, you’ll have to apologise for the both of us.”

“Deal.”

 

“How come Lovegood knows I like Rabastan?” Andromeda asked Rose, mid-class. Professor Binns was talking about the Medieval Assembly of European Wizards. _What_ he was saying about it—the title was written on the board—Andromeda doubted anyone knew. They had the class with Gryffindor. “He hinted something about it to me during Potions, and I only know his name because Slughorn asked him which are the ingredients for a sleeping draught during last class.”

“Well, you told me in front of Juno, what did you expect.”

“I did what?!” Andromeda spoke loud enough to wake up those who were sleeping, and professor Binns turned around, confused anyone had interrupted the usual lethargy of his class. Some scattered giggling was heard. Gideon had to bury his face in his arms to conceal his laughter. “Sorry, professor.” Professor Binns nodded and continued talking, writing dates on the blackboard. “And you didn’t warn me?” She murmured to Rose.

“Well I never expected you to drop a bomb like that.”

“Now I understand why Alecto was glaring at me during breakfast and lunch.”

“Alecto doesn’t need a reason to glare at you. That girl's hated your guts since the day she set eyes on you.”

“Because when we met, I met Rabastan as well, and he kissed my hand and sat next to me.”

“Oh, that makes sense. He really kissed your hand? What century does he live in?”

“Probably the same century my family lives in.”

When the class was over,  Gideon joined them on their way out.

“Hey, Andy, heard you’re crushing hard on the younger Lestrange, any comments?” Andromeda sighed, blushing.

“So you heard.”

“Yeah. Are you really sure it’s a good idea? I mean, Rabastan’s nose does look a tad too big for his face if you squint a little.” Andromeda glared at him.

“What? You too? Did Fabian put you up to this? The two of you can go swim in dragon feces for all I care.” Gideon tried to say something else, but Andromeda brushed him off, and she and Rose headed back to their common room.  They sat by the fire and made their Transfiguration homework, eating  _ Bertie Bott’s Every Flavour Beans _ . When the rest of their classmates in their year saw the beans, they came over. Andromeda had gotten pepper and strawberry and peanut-butter ice cream, so far. Rose was happy because she’d gotten chocolate and soap, and considered herself lucky. She passed the box and everyone took a bean. They ate them in turns. Amycus’d gotten aubergine and Guotin’d gotten grass. Rose got rotten eggs and had to excuse herself to go to the bathroom to get rid of the flavour in her mouth, while everybody laughed. Juno got mussel and made a funny face because she didn’t like them. Daquain got dog food and everyone told him he was disgusting when he said it actually didn’t taste bad. Andromeda looked at hers with unease. She’d gotten two good ones, pepper wasn’t pleasant but it wasn’t bad, either. Probability dictated she had to get a bad one next. She put hers in her mouth, reluctantly, then smiled.

“I got banana!” She announced, triumphantly. Rose had just gotten back from the bathroom and pouted.

“That’s not fair.”

“Can I play, too?” Rabastan had arrived next to them, apparently he’d gotten back from Quidditch practice recently. His hair was wet as if he’d just taken a shower. Andromeda nodded. The arrival of Rabastan seemed to make almost everyone remember they had important business to attend. Rose let Rabastan take a bean and got back to her Transfiguration homework. He ate it, unafraid. “Lemon.”

“That’s lucky.” Rabastan looked at their books on the floor.

“Were you studying?”

“Yeah, before everyone came around to try their luck.”

“Mind if I join you? I haven’t studied as much as I should, Quidditch practice is quite time-consuming.”

“Not at all,” said Rose and Andromeda in unison. And they sat there, studying, until everyone had left the common room and they were the only ones left.

“I should probably go to bed,” Rose said.

“I should too,” Andromeda agreed. They got up and Rose led the way back to their dormitory. Before she disappeared into the hallway that led towards the girls’ dormitories, Andromeda turned around. “Good night, Rabastan,” she said. Rabastan, who had stopped on his way towards the hallway on the opposite side of the room, smiled.

“Good night, Andromeda.”

Andromeda changed into her nightgown with a silly smile on her face, and her giggling infected Rose, too. Juno, who was trying to sleep, inadvertently began a pillow fight when she threw her pillow at them so they'd shut up. Finally, they all went to sleep, tired but happy. Andromeda fell asleep feeling nothing in the world could possibly taint the happiness she felt. Then she woke up. The strangest sensation took over her body. Her inner thighs felt strangely warm. Could she have possibly peed herself in her sleep? She couldn’t remember if she’d ever done such a thing. She guessed she couldn’t have, she would remember at least the following reprimand. She opened her bed’s curtains to let in the dim light of the room’s fireplace. She slid a hand underneath the sheets, scared. When she pulled her hand out of the sheets, she gasped. It was not pee, that was for sure. Being careful not to wake up Rose or Juno, she got up, put on her slippers, changed her nightgown, and left the room in a hurry. She made it up to the basement, then up to the ground floor, no problem. As she made her way to the staircase to lead her to the first floor, professor McGonagall appeared.

“Miss Black! What are you doing out of bed at this hour?” Andromeda wanted to die. She then remembered she was doing nothing wrong. She held up her bloody hand for professor McGonagall to see. “What happened to you? Why are you bleeding?”

“I’m not bleeding, professor. I’m  _ bleeding _ . For the first time. I was on my way to ask Madam Hypnos to help me.” Professor McGonagall understood immediately.

“You’re not  _ bleeding _ , Black, you’re mooning. Use the proper name of things, I don’t care for euphemisms. Or use menstruating, if you want to use the muggle name for it. Although, if you ask me, I think it’s an ugly name. It makes mooning sound like something dreadful, when it’s something perfectly natural.” She said, sternly. She then saw Andromeda’s scared face, and placed a hand on her shoulder. “Come on, I’ll take you to the infirmary. There’s nothing to be afraid of. I’ll talk to the castle’s house elves so that you have clean sheets when you get back to your room. I’ve heard Selene knows how to teach the blood-vanishing charm in a blink. Then nothing will get stained anymore. She’ll probably teach you how to moon chart your cycles so you know when you’ll moon again.” Andromeda felt more calm. A blood-vanishing charm, moon-charting, and clean sheets sounded very reassuring.


	10. the empty classroom incident

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just wanted to say I'm very excited cos I expect to write Ted in very soon (hopefully chapter after next) and yeah. Been looking forward to mentioning him again. Hope you get excited about it as well!

When Andromeda woke up that morning, she was only worrying about her Defence Against the Dark Arts exam that was to take place later that day. Another year was coming to an end, and Andromeda could hardly believe how quickly it had passed. She didn’t know that after the exam, the Empty Classroom Incident would happen. She would’ve never anticipated that the ECI would be an event that she’d remember until she was very old, that would change her forever. For the entirety of that particular morning, however, she only cared about getting her Disarming Charm right, and knowing all there was to know about hags and vampires, and whether or not professor Merrythought would test her on what she’d learnt during her advanced lessons. Well, she also cared about other things, things that weighed her down and tore her concentration. As she and Rose left the Great Hall after lunch, she let herself wonder if it was time to forgive Fabian. They’d passed the entire year not speaking to each other. She was worried, because whenever she was ready to patch things up with him, he’d bring up Rabastan again and they’d fight again. Why couldn’t he be like Gideon? Gideon’d said he trusted her judgement and things went back to normal, just like that. She was unable to celebrate Fabian’s triumph in the Quidditch cup—he’d made the team in emergency trials, after their beater had left in a nervous breakdown—, because he kept being an idiot.  _ What if we never speak again? Will Gideon stop being my friend? Will Molly hate me? _ Andromeda didn’t want to lose her friendship with Fabian, but she didn’t want to stop talking to Rabastan. She liked Rabastan, he’d been very caring with her that year, even though they had lost the Quidditch cup again. She trusted him. She wasn’t certain at first, but after Rabastan lost the Quidditch cup stoically, she began to believe him.  _ I might even date him in the future _ , she thought, trying to distract herself as she and Rose took the last few steps towards the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom.  _ It’d be fun to be the Blacks and the Lestranges, and mother and father would get off my case once and for all _ . Just then, she bumped into Fabian. He didn’t look very happy, Quidditch cup and all.

“I’m sorry.” Andromeda apologised. “I wasn’t looking.”

“No, I’m sorry.”

“I’ve got my exam now. I have to—”

“I’m sorry about everything. Let’s not fight anymore. You were right, I have no business insulting your friends.” Andromeda smiled, and Fabian smiled, genuinely, at last.

“No more fights.”

“No more fights. Good luck!” Andromeda disappeared into professor Merrythought’s classroom, less worried, a weight lifted off her chest. No worries meant full on concentration and she aced that test so quickly, she was the first out the door and she didn’t think it was because she’d missed anything. Outside, professor Merrythought was waiting to evaluate practical abilities and the smile she had on her face once Andromeda was done, told Andromeda she had nothing to worry about. She ran downstairs, happy as ever, on her way to the common room for some much-needed rest—and then to keep on studying, professor Sprout was not going to let up because Fabian had been unable to teach her. That was when she ran into Fabian again.

“Hi there!” She said, merrily.

“Hi! How did your exam go?”

“Excellent. I even nailed the riddikulus and freezing spells.” Fabian was impressed.

“You defeated a boggart in second year? I have classmates who still have trouble with them.” He paused. “Do you mind if we go somewhere and talk for a while? I feel like you deserve better than a rushed apology.” Andromeda nodded. They headed outside, where the weather was nice and sunny, and there were very few people, as almost everyone was cramming for the exams. They sat under their usual study tree. “I’ve been an idiot, and I am so very, sorry, Andromeda. The truth is,” his ears went red, “that I like you, and I’ve been trying to deny it, and in the process I have treated you like dirt.” Andromeda opened her mouth to say something, blushed and astonished, but Fabian held up a hand, to let him finish. “I truly appreciate your friendship. I also know Gideon and you are very good friends and I’m sorry I ever threatened your friendship by trying to put him in the middle. I’m not telling you I like you so that you can say anything about it or to justify myself. I thought you deserved to know why I had shut you out without a real reason. I may not trust Rabastan but, even so, during this entire time you have not been disloyal to me or Gideon once, which proves me paranoid. I hope you can forgive me. Also, Gideon said that I have to apologise for his interference as well. He didn’t want to do it, I pushed him to.” Andromeda smiled.

“Fabian, you are a great friend, and as such, I like you a lot. I knew about Gideon, he told me the second I let him speak long enough to apologise, which was like three days after I got angry at him.” They laughed. “I just hope my friendship is enough for you, because I really have nothing else to offer right now. Also, you’re right you treated me like dirt and I didn’t deserve it, no matter how much you like me. That being said, I accept your apology. Friends?”

“Friends.” Andromeda sighed in relief.

“That’s awesome cause I’m about to fail my Herbology exam.” Fabian laughed.

“Now I just feel used.”

“You really don’t need to help me. It’s exams period. It was just a joke.”

“Nonsense. I have all the time in the world, I studied using the Ravenclaw Quidditch team method, also known as: cramming weeks beforehand so that we can concentrate properly during training. I’ll go get my things. Meet you back here?” Andromeda nodded.

“I’ll go get my stuff as well. You’re so the best.” She jumped to her feet, and kissed him on the cheek. Fabian went fully red.

“You know, you’d better not do things like that for a while. Friends, you know?” She flushed with embarrassment.

“Right, sorry. I’ll meet you in ten.” They both left, Fabian still fuming with nervousness, Andromeda happy she’d recovered her friend. Had she just waited for Fabian under the tree, had she neglected taking notes off Fabian’s, the ECI would’ve never happened. But she was already down to the dungeons and heard distant crying. Wand in hand, she turned in direction of the noise, until she came upon an old empty classroom door slightly ajar. Andromeda stood still by the door for a second, trying to figure out what she was going to walk into. Honestly, she’d heard horror stories of yearmates walking into senior students making out, and she didn’t want to live a horror story of her own. She could make out at least four voices. One of them was crying. ‘ _ Slugulus Eructo _ ,’ an uncannily familiar voice said. Andromeda pushed the door. Inside, the ECI unfolded. Bellatrix was standing over a slug-vomiting Hufflepuff first year, and Rodolphus, Rabastan, Alecto, and Amycus stood behind her, laughing. Andromeda knew, the second every pair of eyes lifted their gaze from the slug-vomiting student to look at her, that she had only two options: to join them or fight them.

“Leave him alone!” She demanded, dead serious, but she could feel her hands shaking. Bellatrix lifted an eyebrow.

“Or what, Dromeda? Come on, it’s only a joke. Cute little mudblood here got lost on his way to his common room and we are only showing him a good time.” She grinned, maliciously, in a way that made Andromeda sweat cold. She’d never seen that side of Bellatrix before. Sure, she lacked empathy and sometimes had a cruel edge to her ways, but this was far beyond an  _ edge _ . She looked at her housemates’ faces, trying to look for some support. Her eyes lingered when she saw Rabastan, finally understanding the totality of the scene. Her hands stopped shaking. She was enraged. She’d been lied to, she’d been played.  _ I can’t believe I liked him _ , she thought. She lifted her wand.

“I won’t hesitate. You’re tainting the reputation of the Slytherin house. You’re gonna make us lose the cup. You’re ruining the effort of all of our housemates for some  _ cruel _ entertainment.”

“ _ I’m _ tainting the reputation of Slytherin?” Bellatrix laughed sarcastically. “Slytherin wanted to rid the castle of mudbloods, if anything, I’m doing his will!” She looked at her with disdain. “You, on the other hand… Dromeda, come to your senses. You’re making a mess of the reputation of the House of Black. Aunt Walburga taught you better than to hang out with blood traitors and stand up for mudbloods.”

“Aunt Walburga taught  _ you _ better than to torture defenceless first years. There is no honour in that. Have you no shame? Don’t you remember the only words father has ever told us before we go to sleep?  _ Toujours pur _ . A Black never stoops so low as to dirty his or her hands with unworthy causes.  _ Toujours pur _ . That doesn’t only mean pureblood. It means not to engage in stupid behaviour, too.” She kept an eye on her housemates, she knew they wouldn’t dare attack her. She was still Bellatrix’s sister. That was when she saw Alecto rose her wand, but Andromeda was quicker. “ _ Immobulus _ !” She yelled. It all happened very quickly. Professor Sprout suddenly appeared in the empty classroom. Alecto was frozen mid-spell. The first year ran towards professor Sprout, still vomiting slugs. Everybody else, even if they hadn’t been affected by the freezing charm, stood motionless.

“I want to know,” Professor Sprout was so furious she had gone fully red. Her usually comforting and sweet face was frowning so intensely Andromeda wanted to run and hide. “What on Merlin are you doing to my student?” She made a pause and composed herself, ever so slightly. She turned to Andromeda, who had her wand still in the air. “Explain.” She demanded.

“All due respect, professor, I will not say a word of what has happened. I came in here to protect my house’s image and I will continue to do so. Loyalty compels me to keep my mouth shut.” She looked at the first year, who kept vomiting slugs.

“Very well. I’m going to assume what has happened here myself, then.” She looked at all of them disapprovingly. “Fifty points from Slytherin for each and every one of you in this room. I will make sure professor Slughorn and headmaster Dumbledore hear about this. And detention, every day after the exams are over.” The Hufflepuff curled in the floor near her tugged her robes, then pointed to Andromeda.

“Professor. She helped me. She came in to stop them. Don’t punish her too.” Professor Sprout seemed surprised, so much so, her anger subdued.

“Very well then. I’m going to take my student to the hospital wing. Young Black, you don’t have detention. I’ll make sure professor Slughorn hears of your sensible response to your housemates’ behaviour. A hundred points for Slytherin as a reward, for protecting one of my own.” She turned to the rest, she waved her wand and Alecto went back to normal. “You lot, put her up to speed. Now scatter, I don’t ever want to see you roaming these empty classrooms again. I’m going to tell Filch to keep a really tight watch on these corridors.” As soon as professor Sprout left, Andromeda thought everyone was going to attack her. But they kept quiet. Alecto attempted to say something, but they hushed her and dragged her out of the classroom. Only Rabastan lingered. He looked guilty.

“Andromeda…”

“Don’t, I don’t wanna hear it.” He turned, then seemed to think it better and faced her once again.

“I may not be compassionate, or a mudblood supporter, or well-balanced. Merlin, I even broke my broom in the changing room after we lost the cup. But I really do like you, Andromeda.” Andromeda pushed him aside to get out of the empty classroom.

“Well I guess it’s gonna be a disappointing afternoon for the both of us. I don’t like you, and the boy I like no longer exists.” She walked as quickly as she could, and once inside the common room she crossed it without looking anywhere but the floor. She knew what was going to happen. Bellatrix and the rest hadn’t done anything because she’d kept quiet, and they wouldn’t want to feel indebted to her. After leaving the empty classroom, however, everything was fair game. She knew everyone would begin to avoid her, either because of genuine dislike, or in fear of her sister. Best case scenario, Bellatrix wouldn’t utter a word to her ever again, but would leave her alone (she was really hoping for this last one). She entered her dormitory, opened her trunk and picked up a small box she’d left untouched since her first time on the Hogwarts Express. She sat on her bed and began painting her nails. Rose and Juno, who’d been apparently discussing the recent Defence Against the Dark Arts exam, looked at her curiously.

“What is that smell?” Juno asked.

“Nail polish.”

“Juno, could you give us a second?” Andromeda waved Rose’s suggestion off.

“Let her stay. She’s gonna get wind of it eventually, anyway. Better be it that my version of things also goes around.” Juno smiled, she seemed very pleased to be told the exclusive on a gossip. “I caught Trix and company torturing a poor first year in an empty classroom. The boy was terrified to the bone, vomiting slugs. And so I stood up for him and told them to get lost. Professor Sprout walked in before things could escalate and took, uh…” she did the math “three hundred points from Slytherin, gave us all detention and said both Slughorn and headmaster Dumbledore would hear about it.” Rose and Juno were in absolute silence, entrapped by the story. “Then the boy, bless his heart, told Sprout between slugs that I had tried to stop them. Sprout gave me a hundred points instead of taking fifty for me which really means she really took a hundred and fifty points from Slytherin in the end but, hey, I’m not complaining. Anyhow, among them was Rabastan. Lying little bastard. So now I’m here, painting my nails because I like painting my nails and I’m gonna start getting called blood traitor anyway, so what’s the point of pretending anymore?” She turned to them. “I understand if you want to stop talking to me, or at least stop talking to me in public, to avoid social suicide.”

“Are you crazy? I’m your friend, Andy, you can count on me.” Rose looked determined.

“I’ll make sure your version of the story gets around, Andy. You just saved us from losing a hundred extra points.” Andromeda looked at Juno, surprised. Her piercing deep green eyes, which were usually rather scary against her olive skin, were now strikingly truthful. “I’m not an idiot, you know. The moment I met you, I realised you were social suicide. But you stood up for our house, and I will not let that go unnoticed.” Andromeda smiled, almost teary. She’d never expected Juno to turn out to be so true.

“Are you okay, though, Andy?” Rose sat on her bed, and put a hand on her knee, comfortingly. “I know you must be disappointed about Rabastan.”

“I liked the person I thought Rabastan was.” She sighed, examining her nail polish. “I’m just angry I even liked him in the first place.”

“If it makes you feel any better,” she turned to Juno. “Can you keep a secret?” Juno nodded.

“As long as you let me know things are a secret beforehand, we should be good.” Andromeda and Rose smiled, amused.

“Well, I think you worked yourself into liking Rabastan because it was easy.” Rose continued. “After the summer, after seeing how ‘blood traitors’ live, after seeing that going against your family wouldn’t be easy, it would include lots of lying and sneaking around, and the reward would be nothing remotely close to the life you’re accustomed to… I think you freaked out and tried to convince yourself into liking someone who wouldn’t mean any trouble at all.”

“But he is trouble. Trouble for myself. For my peace of mind. For my moral compass. I could go on forever.” Rose smiled.

“Maybe you just needed to be a hundred percent sure that was not what you wanted for yourself.”

“You needed to make sure you were not looking forward two Black-Lestrange weddings back-to-back.” Juno chipped in.

“That’s stupid,” Rose said. “If they’re sisters and they’re brothers… wouldn’t a double wedding make much more sense?”

“Double weddings are so middle class, darling.” Andromeda said in her best Bellatrix expression.

“Ding ding ding! That’s exactly what Bellatrix said the other day, according to my sources,” Juno agreed, and they laughed.  _ Maybe being a blood traitor won’t be so bad after all _ , Andromeda thought.


	11. what is love?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> baby don't hurt me, don't hurt me, no more

The exams were over. Andromeda was merrily having breakfast while writing a reply to her uncle. He always liked to be briefed about what was going on at the castle. Andromeda liked having a parental figure she wasn’t scared to tell stuff like she was using nail polish again or that she was surprised she hadn’t flunked her Herbology exam. Incredibly enough, she’d done excellent in her Herbology exam. Professor Sprout had congratulated her, and Fabian had been beside himself with pride when she’d told him. She tied her reply to uncle Alphard to Maia’s leg. She beamed proudly, and ate some bacon off Andromeda’s plate before taking flight. That was when a small owl left a note near her plate. 

> Meet you at our study spot at five.
> 
> -Fabian

She showed the note to Rose, who was happily eating scrambled eggs. She shrugged.

“I don’t know what he might want. Sometimes I feel you think of me as an omniscient entity, Andy. He’s your friend, seriously.” Andromeda looked at her sister out of the corner of her eye, talking to Rodolphus and the Carrows. A seemingly uninterested Lucius was clearly eavesdropping. Andromeda had been expecting a howler for a couple of days now, but she had begun to realise it was probably never going to arrive. Bellatrix had just not told their parents about the ECI. Apparently, she had also neglected pinning the entire house against her because, so far, nobody had said anything to her about the ECI. The only thing that had changed was that now some students treated her like she had changed houses overnight. A couple Ravenclaws had waved at her two days before, and a group of Gryffindors had smiled to her on the hallway just the previous day. Only a few minutes before, when she’d entered the Great Hall for breakfast, Diana had seemingly forgotten to glare at her and had nodded politely instead. Let’s not even mention Hufflepuff. Every single badger greeted her like she was a housemate. The most surprising change, however, had come from selected students in her own house. The house’s loner, Umbridge, had begun looking at Andy like she was a more pitiful thing than her—Juno had laughed at that. A first year, Bagman, smiled covertly to her whenever he saw her in the common room and, most incredibly of all, the fifth year prefect, Fletcher, had winked at her in the common room the day after the ECI. Once, in the hallway, he’d told her ‘good job’ and another time ‘good to know you’re not one of them’.

After breakfast, Juno and Rose joined her to enjoy the sunshine out in the gardens. Andromeda liked Hogwarts best that time of the year. Sunshine, no parents, no classes. Suddenly, a curly blonde Ravenclaw approached them. She looked older than they were, and Andromeda was about to ask her what would want a senior Ravenclaw with them, when Juno sat very straight and addressed her.

“We have nothing to discuss with you, Skeeter.” Skeeter made a face at such a welcome.

“Come on, McLean, I only came to congratulate Black for her bravery last week. How do you feel about that, Black?”

“Don’t answer, Andy. Skeeter is just a busybody who will make you look the worst she possibly can about anything you tell her.” At such words, Rose also looked at Skeeter with disgust.

“You hear her, Skeeter. No one has nothing to say to you.”

“Well I guess I’ll just tell everybody Black is an arrogant girl who thinks herself too important to talk to me after the one good deed.” Andromeda attempted to defend herself, but Rose stopped her.

“Go on, then.” Juno encouraged her, and Skeeter left. “I’m sorry, Andy. But if you think I’m a gossip, you’d be surprised by Skeeter. She’s the worst. I pride in spreading rumours that I’ve made sure are a hundred percent true. Skeeter just wants a scoop, and she’ll turn it into a snowball. She doesn’t care about solid rumour, she cares about scandal and drama and impact, and she’ll add it herself if the story isn’t ‘spicy’ enough for her taste.”

“That’s awful.”

“Be grateful I’m the one spreading gossip about you,” Juno said, looking very smug.

 

That afternoon, when Andromeda showed up at the studying spot, Fabian, Gideon, Molly, and Arthur were sitting on a tablecloth with a cake that had a magic firework-candle on it.

“What’s this all about?”

“You’re graduating from being tutored on Herbology!” Gideon exclaimed, proudly, and Andromeda laughed.

“You did all this because I passed my exam?”

“No matter how much we crammed before the exam, you did too well for me to take credit for all of it. I believe you’ll do just fine without me tutoring you from now on.” Fabian explained. “I made a graduation ceremony for Rose as well, as soon as she did well enough to let her go without regret.”

“You gave her a piece of parchment and a muffin.”

“Well, Rose is Rose and you’re my friend. Plus, it’s the end of the school year, I thought we could all use some celebration.” She sat down with them, and Arthur poured pumpkin juice for everyone, and they had a toast. “For Andy, who passed her Herbology test with flying colours.”

“For Andy, who kicked some snob arse!” Gideon added.

“Gid, language!” Molly reprimanded him.

“For all of you, who take such good care of me.” The clinking of their glasses sent little stars into the air. Andromeda had a hard time blowing the candle, but eventually blew it off. They ate some sandwiches Gideon had stolen from the kitchens—nobody knew how—and sat listening to Gideon telling the story of how he’d made it into the Quidditch team for the hundredth time. Andromeda realised Fabian was looking a little blue, and spoke to him in a murmur, so as not to interrupt Gideon’s story.

“What’s going on? You don’t look like you’re too happy I’m graduating.”

“I’m sorry. I just feel slightly nostalgic about all of this ending. It feels like the end of an era. No more study meetings… we probably won’t see each other as often anymore.” Andromeda giggled.

“We barely saw each other this year! I’m sure we’ll see each other much more often now. Just because you won’t be tutoring me anymore doesn’t mean I’ll stop speaking to you or hanging out with you. We’re friends, Fabian.” He smiled.

“You mean it?”

“You make me sound awful, you know? Like I was only using you to do better on my exams.” She punched him teasingly on his arm. “Of course I mean it.”

After Gideon’s story, they moved onto teasing Molly and Arthur about their O.W.L.s and then Molly, for being a prefect. Eventually, the boys were all over Arthur for not being in the Quidditch team and, soon enough, Arthur was trying to hit pebbles with a stick. Andromeda noticed Molly had started cutting the cake, and got closer to help her.

“Molly, do you mind if I make you a rather personal question?” Molly smiled warmly.

“Not at all, Andy dear.”

“What do you think love is?” Molly stayed silent for a second, and Andromeda thought maybe it was too personal a question after all.

“That is a very difficult, question, Andy. And I think I may be too young to reply it even remotely right but… I think it depends. Love in friendship are the things in common. Even if they are different from you, what you look for in friends are aspects that coincide with your own. Or having shared important experiences together. But romantic love… I feel that, although it is important to have things in common as well, it is the qualities that the other has and that we lack that challenge us constantly. Being challenged like that makes us fall in love. Take Arthur, for example.” She stared at Arthur, who was currently trying to make a throw Fabian couldn’t beat. “Everybody tells me he’s a doofus obsessed with muggle stuff. I _know_ he is, but Arthur looks at the world with such wonder… he makes the silliest things seem special.” She handed Andromeda a piece of cake to set on the tablecloth. “I am a very practical person, as you may have noticed, and I know, someday, somewhere down the line, I will need Arthur to make things seem special when I don’t see it.” She made a pause. Andromeda could tell she was worried about something. “To remind me life _is_ special, in spite of what may be going on. He lives life like it’s worth living and I think I will never not love that about him.” She smiled fondly at Andromeda, handing her another piece of cake. “Love isn’t perfect, and neither are the people we love. When you’re in love with the right person, nevertheless, it feels like together, sometimes, it gets pretty darn close.” Andromeda felt warm inside. She felt comforted. She’d never ever heard anything remotely like what Molly had told her. She felt hopeful, she didn’t need to end like her parents in a civil, maybe friendly, yet loveless marriage.

“I know it’s rude to ask but, when you and Arthur get married, would you invite me to your wedding?” Molly blushed.

“We’re still too young to think of marriage, Andy.”

“Well, if you ever get married, would you invite me then?”

“Of course you’d be invited if we ever got married.”


	12. tonks?

Summer could not have ended soon enough. Every adult in the Black family was growing increasingly anxious and it had not escaped Andromeda’s notice. Her parents kept having dinners with other pureblood families—one night was the Lestranges, other the Bulstrodes, other the Malfoys… the list went on and on—and their house, Black Garden, soon became the official crèche for all the Black cousins. Since Cygnus was the only married man between him, uncle Alphard and aunt Walburga, he’d inherited the biggest state from grandfather Pollux—who, it must be noted, was not dead, but had retired with his wife, Irma, to their mansion in Italy once his children had all graduated from Hogwarts. Black Garden was a beautiful old manor in an unplottable location, surrounded by fields and gardens and streams. For all the beauty right outside their door, Druella made sure their daughters stayed inside most of the time. A governess had taught them to play the piano, read, and behave properly. Etiquette lessons had been the most boring, but Andromeda had soon learnt that doing everything the way she was told was the best way to make them end soon. The gorgeous stone of its walls gave Black Garden a castle feel to it. There were so many empty rooms, that it could house the Black-Rosiers and the Blacks—it went often unsaid that Walburga and Orion were cousins—and there were still empty rooms left. Now that Bellatrix was old enough, only Lolly was left to do the house chores, while they did what they liked. Regulus, now four, felt like he should be included in all of their plans. He felt frustrated when he realised that, wherever his brother and his cousin Andromeda were sneaking off to, he was not invited. Narcissa would usually talk to him and soothe him.

“They’re only visiting uncle Alphard, Reg. He’s a boring man who plays Wizard's Chess all day. You can play in the garden, mother isn’t here and no one will yell at us if you accidentally step on her flowers.” They would stay in the garden from after lunch until dinner. Bellatrix went everywhere in the household with an air that she knew more than her sisters. Rodolphus kept showing up in their fireplace to join them for dinner. He and Bellatrix stayed talking by the fireplace until ten everynight, and Andromeda was forced to sit nearby, chaperoning. Talk about fun. At least, some nights, Sirius would sit with her and make funny faces of disgust whenever Bellatrix and Rodolphus kissed.

Not only were they being held hostages in Black Garden, but Aishen Manor did not provide any opportunities for Andromeda to visit muggle London. She was desperate to get her hands on a few more bottles of nail polish, and to visit the record shop. Uncle Alphard was very clear, however. He didn’t think it was safe. It was like all the adults and teenagers were in on a nasty secret to ruin their holidays, because when Andromeda had written to the Prewetts to let them know she didn’t have permission to visit them that summer, Molly had written on Gideon’s letter that she agreed it wasn’t such a good idea to be going around with ‘everything that was happening’. What was happening? Andromeda didn’t know.

Andromeda had been born in St Mungo’s maternity ward on 2 August at exactly 4.43 am. She was to celebrate her thirteenth birthday first with a lunch at uncle Alphard’s, then the Prewetts had been allowed to visit her briefly at Ainshen Manor. After that, she had a birthday dinner back at Black Garden with _all_ her family. That also meant the Rosiers were visiting, and made Andromeda wonder why her family was torturing her on her birthday. Getting all the family together meant an unpleasant dinner, expensive but impersonal gifts—mostly jewellery, and aunt Walburga comparing her to Bellatrix the entire meal. She’d just finished eating at Ainshen Manor, when Alphard handed her a small velvety bag.

“Happy birthday, Andromeda.” Andromeda was pretty sure she knew what the contents of the bag were, yet she still opened it to take a peek inside. She’d been right and wrong at the same time. Andromeda had expected money, but amidst a good amount of galleons, a couple por paper notes surfaced through.

“Does this mean?” Alphard smiled widely.

“I left a muggle dress upstairs for you to change into. You can only go out for forty-five minutes. Your guests will be here in an hour. I’ll be timing you, but yes, you can go to muggle London.” Andromeda leapt to her feet and threw her arms around her uncle.

“Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!!” Andromeda kept thanking her uncle once she’d changed into her dress and was stepping out of the house into the noisiness of the muggle city.

Much like her dress, muggle girls used their dresses pretty short, she noted. She was glad to be wearing muggle clothes for a change. She was getting tired that every time her uncle let her go to muggle London, all the muggles stared like she was mad. _They_ were the ones wearing sunglasses even though it was raining. Andromeda adjusted the umbrella her uncle had given her on her way out. She walked to the beauty store upstreet, and bought herself several bottles of nail polish. A lot of them were green, she was growing fonder and fonder of her house, even though there were not many students she could owe it to. She then crossed the street and walked the couple of blocks that it took to get to the nearest record shop. She realised she hadn’t hear the band that was playing inside the store. She got closer to the shop assistant and asked her who they were.

“They’re The Who. They launched their first album a couple months ago.” She showed her to where the records were and Andromeda submerged herself rummaging through, keeping an eye on the clock on the wall, making sure she left with enough time to make it back home. She decided at last on The Who’s album and one by The Beatles. When she’d paid for them, she turned around and saw a familiar face in muggle clothes. She thought she was mistaken, but she was pretty sure she remembered him well enough to recognise him on the street, even in muggle clothes.

“Tonks?” She called. Sure enough, the boy turned, but seemed to miss her. She tried to get closer, but he was walking out of the record shop and away in the opposite direction to Ainshen Manor. “Tonks!” She insisted, but the boy kept on walking. Maybe he hadn’t heard her. Maybe she was mistaken, she thought. Andromeda didn’t know that she hadn’t been mistaken, and that Tonks had heard her. The moment he saw her, Edward Tonks urged his eyes to keep looking around, to make it look like he hadn’t seen her, and next thing he’d left as quickly as he could without making it look like he was making a run for it, which was exactly what he was doing. What was Andromeda Black doing dressed like a perfect muggle in a muggle record shop with muggle records in her hands? Did Andromeda Black really recognise and call out to him, Edward Tonks? And to think some of his housemates thought the muggle world was boring. This had to be about the most bizarre thing that had happened to him since he’d found out he was a wizard.

Back at Ainshen Manor, Andromeda met the Prewetts and forgot all about her encounter with Edward Tonks. Alphard had bought some cake and they all sat at the table he had in his backyard, drinking tea, eating cake, and talking a lot. Andromeda got a beautiful hair ribbon, emerald green, from Molly. Fabian had given her a flower crown made of daisies.

“It never withers.” He explained, and she smiled fondly.

“Did you make it yourself?” Fabian blushed, under Alphard’s curious watch.

“Yeah, it was no big deal.”

“It’s lovely.” Gideon was the last to hand her a present.

“Mine’s the best.” He announced, fully confident. Andromeda opened the box he’d handed her to find a knitted scarf in green and silver, her house’s colours. “I asked mum to teach me to knit, and it’s enchanted, so it always smells like gladiolus, even after you wash it. I have no idea what flower that is, but mum said it was your birth flower, so there you go.” Andromeda hugged Gideon very tightly.

“Thank you so, so much, Gid.” He beamed.

“Andy, what classes did you choose to take this year?” Molly asked, expectantly.

“Ancient Runes,” Fabian nodded in approval, Molly made a face. “And Muggle Studies.” Alphard cracked up, and his sudden laughter made everyone turn to look at him.

“I’m sorry,” he said between laughs. “But you took Muggle Studies,” more laughing, “let me know how that goes. Keep me posted. I don’t want to miss it when my dear sister-in-law finds out. Or my much dearer sister.” He laughed again. “You certainly like disappointing your parents, don’t you?”

“Are you going to tell them?”

“Of course not. Narcissa is going to Hogwarts this year, though, and I wouldn’t count on her to keep the secret.” Oh no, she’d forgotten all about Cissy. Anxious, she changed the subject, to one she knew Gideon would enjoy as well.

“Well, Fabian how did you like watching the Arrows crushed by the Harpies and then by the Wasps?”

“Yeah, Fabian, how did you like it?” Gideon insisted with a smirk.

“You’ve been keeping up with the Quidditch league?” He asked Andromeda, surprised.

“Father reads _The Daily Prophet_ every single day, I just need to steal the sports supplement.”

“I’ve told you,” Fabian said, “supporting the Wasps—”

“Is no fun, they always win,” Molly, Andromeda, and Gideon said in unison. Alphard laughed.

Back at Black Garden, she ran upstairs to hide her presents and change into a dress that was proper to dine with the entire family. She chose a simple blue one, long and flowy, that her mother said made her look older. She chose a single sapphire pendant necklace to wear and beheld herself in the mirror. She wanted to use Fabian’s flower crown, but knew better than doing so. She made her way downstairs, as slowly as she could.


	13. avoiding andy professionally

The Sorting Hat Ceremony began with ‘Abbott, Pandora’ who was sorted into Ravenclaw. Andromeda was considerably nervous. She half wanted her sister to be in the same house as her, half expected her to end up elsewhere and have a chance at a better life than a life full of etiquette rules and stupid blood purity ideals. McGonagall’s voice interrupted her thoughts.

“Black, Narcissa.” The Sorting Hat barely touched Narcissa’s head when it yelled:

“SLYTHERIN!” Narcissa walked up to their table with a wide smile, looking as lovely as ever. She was wearing the emerald earrings father had given her for luck. It was no secret she was his favourite. As soon as Narcissa sat next to her, Andromeda hugged her, relieved she could watch over her and worried she’d turn out like Bellatrix. Bellatrix had said nothing about the ECI to Narcissa on the train, or about Andromeda’s questionable choices. Andromeda was still on defence about her sister’s silence.

“Congratulations, Cissy!” She told her sister, putting a lock of her hair behind her ear.

“Congrats, Cissy.” Bellatrix said, a couple seats away.

“Dromeda?” Narcissa said.

“Yes, Cissy?”

“Who is the boy over there?” She was talking about Lucius Malfoy. Andromeda had known this would happen, so she sighed, and decided to stay always a little more worried than relieved.

“That is Lucius Malfoy, and the worst thing you could do is follow him around doe-eyed.” Narcissa nodded.

“I wasn’t planning on doing so.”

 

Her first Muggle Studies class was with students from all the other houses, since they were so few in total. She soon noticed she was the only one from her house taking the class, which was not surprising at all. From Gryffindor, she recognised Dorcas, and from Ravenclaw, there was Lovegood, whom she knew from her Potions class. Two Hufflepuffs were in the class as well, and Andromeda was worried to see that one of them was Podmore. She wasn’t sure he’d forgiven her for their ‘encounter’ in first year. To her surprise, he waved at her like they’d been friends since times immemorial, and so did the freckled blonde next to him. Andromeda took a seat next to Dorcas. She was wearing her frizzy hair in two frizzy buns.

“Do my eyes deceive me or is this a Slytherin in Muggle Studies?” Andromeda shrugged.

“I can’t let my sisters be the only ones with a bad reputation.”

“This will only make you more approachable, you know?”

“Not at home.” Dorcas laughed.

Professor Quirrell was a young wizard who was very kind and very excited about muggles and reminded Andromeda very much of Arthur Weasley. He began the class talking about the reasons to learn about muggles, and said he expected them all to have fun in his course. When she left the classroom, Andromeda was in very high spirits. As she was putting her parchment and ink inside her bag, Podmore and the blonde girl came by her seat.

“No grudges, right?” Podmore asked.

“None at all,” Andromeda smiled, surprised. The blonde girl held out her hand, Andromeda was impressed, her eyes were _so_ blue.

“I’m Lucy Hardy.” Andromeda shook her hand, it was warm and soft, and she felt self conscious about her own. “I just wanted to thank you,” she said. “The boy you helped last year, he was my brother.”

“Oh.” It all made sense now. “Is he okay?”

“Ricky is doing alright, thanks to you.” Lucy and Podmore smiled once more, then left the classroom. Andromeda lifted her bag and did the same, Dorcas joining her on her way out. Down the stairs, they ran into Gideon.

“Hey Dory, Andy, how was your first class?”

“Quirrell looks like a sweetheart. I’m sure we can look forward to an easy year. How was Divination?”

“Oh, it was _terrible_.” Just then, he seemed to recognise someone behind them. “Hey there, Ted!” Ted walked up to Gideon, and he was too close to run away when he saw Dorcas and Andromeda turning to face him. Andromeda was surprised to see Edward Tonks standing right in front of her.

“Tonks? I thought you’d been expelled.”

“You two know each other?”

“Why did you think he was expelled?” Dorcas asked.

“Well, I met him on the Hogwarts Express in first year and after the Sorting I never saw him again.” She explained to Gideon, then turned to Ted. “I looked everywhere for you, you weren’t even in the classes I’ve had with Hufflepuff.”

“I was avoiding you,” Ted admitted, turning pink.

“Why?” Gideon asked.

“Look, I understand our first meeting was far from ideal and I gave a terrible first impression. I have been wanting to apologise for it all this time. So I’m sorry. I cannot apologise for Trix cause she does what she wants but I should’ve told her she was wrong to treat you like that, and I should’ve stood up for you when she called you a mudblood. I’m very sorry, Tonks.” Ted seemed embarrassed.

“It’s okay. It wasn’t your fault.”

“I understand you may not want to get to know me, but you don’t have to _avoid_ me. It must be a lot of hard work.”

“How did you avoid her for so long?” Gideon wanted to know.

“Okay, yeah, I’ve been a little bit exaggerated,” Ted laughed. He had a pleasant laugh.

“You think? You should’ve at least figured out she was a decent witch after what happened at the end of last year. It was a boy from your house the one she defended, was he not?”

“Yes, he was. I—”

“You don’t have to justify yourself. You must’ve had your reasons. _I_ would’ve never wanted to see me again after our first meeting, so I understand.” Andromeda smiled. “I have to get to Charms, but see you around!” Andromeda disappeared down the hall.

“But _how_ did you avoid her?” Gideon insisted, impatient.

“Oh, I told one of my prefects and she taught me a hair-colour changing charm. It’s simple but efficient to make people miss you in a crowd.”

“And did you have to avoid her even after you realised she was a good person?” Dorcas could not wrap her mind around it.

“Well, to avoid someone for almost two years you must really keep an eye on them. I realised Black was a nice person much sooner than most people. I was just... heavily ashamed for having let my prejudice take the best of me. I felt too embarrassed to stop.”

“It’s a lot more embarrassing to be busted like you just were, if you ask me.” Gideon said. “You could’ve told me. I would’ve told you Andy is the best.”

 

Andromeda was sitting at the study spot she used to shared with Fabian, after Charms. Professor Cobb had congratulated her, as un-excitedly as she was capable, on her gouging spell. Fabian arrived a few minutes later.

“Hey, Andy, have you been waiting long?” She looked up. Fabian was smiling widely, his sweet brown eyes sparkling excitedly. She was reminded of how good-looking Fabian was.

“Not at all. I arrived a few minutes ago. How are your lessons going?”

“Great. Professor Slughorn said I have a very good chance of getting an O.W.L. in Potions next year. So… are we studying? It feels odd to sit here and not study.” Andromeda laughed.

“No, you gave me a graduation ceremony, no more studying in our hangouts unless we’re crumbling under homework and exams. We can just talk, hang out… you can braid my hair.”

“Fair enough, but I ain’t braiding your hair.”

“Gid does.” She remembered Gideon trying to do a braid crown for the first time. It had hurt. “Anyway, I’m happy to hear about your good chances at a Potion O.W.L. Trix is taking them this year and she seems so calm about it… I’d be freaking out. I have no chance at a Herbology one, that I know.” Fabian looked at her, concerned. “Oh, don’t look at me like that. You are a great tutor, but I know a lost cause when I see one. Being able to approve each year is enough when it comes to Herbology, I promise.”

“What O.W.L.s do you think you’ll be getting for sure?”

“Well, Charms and Defence Against the Dark Arts are a no brainer. I don’t excel at Potions, but I do well enough for an O.W.L. The rest… I have no idea. I do generally well, so I am optimistic. You?”

“I am certain I’ll make the Herbology and Defence Against the Dark Arts ones, Potions too. I am optimistic about the rest, too.”

“Are you keeping your Quidditch position?”

“Yeah. Are you going to try for your house’s team this year?”

“I am. My parents got me a Cleansweep Five when I told them I was trying for the team.” Fabian’s jaw dropped.

“But those came out only this year! It must’ve cost a fortune!”

“My parents said it was much less expensive than they had expected it to be.”

“I keep forgetting you’re rich. I guess you got another thing as a birthday present, then.” Andromeda frowned.

“It’s not my fault my parents are rich. I did not choose to be born rich. Actually, I did not choose to be born, period.” She sighed. “Anyhow, yes. I never get to choose my birthday presents, though.”

“What did they give you?”

“A very heavy emerald necklace that I will probably never use.”

“You do realise you sound spoiled right now, don’t you?” She laughed.

“I don’t care about a two-pound shiny necklace. The flower crown you gave me was a million times better.” Fabian’s face went red.


	14. muggle studies

Fabian, Gideon, Rose, and Molly were standing nearby for support. Narcissa was also watching, but something told her it had more to do with second-year Lucius trying out for the team than with her. She realised a little too late that being in the team also meant seeing Rodolphus and Rabastan on a daily basis, but she decided it would not stand on her way of doing something she wanted to do. The team captain, Fletcher, gave Andromeda some hope. He’d congratulated her the previous year, after the ECI. Along with her and Lucius, Alecto was trying for the team once again. So were Amycus, Juno, and another second year, the one who’d covertly smiled at her in the common room after the ECI. Fletcher stood in front of them.

“We have three openings, since we lost a fair share of players due to the fact that a lot of our players used to be seventh years.” Fletcher explained. “I have to tell the lot of you, that our practices are private, so no guests are allowed after the trials.” He glared at the people from other houses which were, coincidentally, Andromeda’s moral support. “Currently, older Lestrange is our keeper, Zabini and I are chasers, and younger Lestrange is our seeker.” These news seem to water down Lucius’s expectations, he didn’t seem so happy anymore. “Thus, we have positions open for two beaters and a chaser. Don’t be discouraged, you can always be accepted as a replacement, and hope one of us gets hit in the face by a bludger.” Everyone laughed. “Now, say your desired position when I call your name. Bagman.”

“Beater.”

“Black.”

“Chaser.”

“Girl Carrow.”

“Beater.”

“Boy Carrow.”

“Beater.”

“Malfoy.”

“Chaser.” Andromeda glared at him. He’d changed positions at the last second, only because the seeker post was already taken.

“McLean.”

“Seeker.”

“Very well. Everybody up in the air.” The trials turned to be exhausting. Andromeda could hardly feel her arms after flying for that long. Fletcher wanted all of them to try for every position, even though he’d asked them what their desired position was. He also wanted everyone flying all the time, to check stamina. When they got back to the ground, Fletcher had a very serious face on him, probably so no one would dare question his decision. “Alright, little snakes. Here we go. Bagman and Boy Carrow, you’re our new beaters, Girl Carrow, you’ll be training with us regularly, you’re the replacement. Black, you’re our new chaser. McLean, you’ll be our replacement in case younger Lestrange decides to get detention and lose our house some points.” Rabastan made an annoyed face, and Rodolphus glared at Andromeda. “Good work, everybody. Congrats on making the team.”

“Well, that’s a dream team,” Rose said when Andromeda and Juno made it to where they were watching them.

“Well I’ve got Juno. Fletcher looks like he won’t be giving me a hard time, either. At least not unrelated to practice.”

“Did you see Malfoy’s face when he realised he was the only one who hadn’t made the team? He wasn’t even chosen to warm up the bench!” Gideon commented, merrily.

“Cissy must be disappointed. She surely hoped to see him playing in the matches.”

“What matters is you made the team. Congrats!” Molly beamed.

“I won’t be going easy on you just because we’re friends, Andy.” Gideon assured her.

“I hereby apologise for every and any bludgers that I may beat in your direction,” Fabian added. “Even Gideon has suffered them.”

“Mum still hasn’t forgiven you for breaking Gideon’s arm,” Molly reminded him.

“I just wanted to distract him, he was about to score!”

“There’re several ways to distract someone without breaking their arm.”

“I still scored, you know? I feel like you’re leaving the thrilling details out on purpose.”

“I just hope Rabastan gets his face bent inwards by a bludger. Then my girl Juno will be catching the snitch.”

“Did you see anything about that in Divination, Juno?” Rose asked.

“No, but I just might.”

When they got back to their common room, a new note was posted on the noticeboard. Below the current password ( _ amphiptere _ ), a note in flashing letters announced that the following weekend would be the first visit to Hogsmeade. Juno, Rose, and Andromeda got immediately excited. Narcissa, who’d just entered the common room, asked what the fuss was about.

“We’re going to Hogsmeade, next weekend.”

“Can I come?” Narcissa asked.

“No, only students from the third year onwards can go.”

“So you and Bella will be there while I’m here?”

“Yeah, I’m afraid so. I’m sorry, Cissy.”

“This is so unfair. You’ve been always talking about your own little secrets, ever since you got into Hogwarts, and now that I am here, you go on your own little secret field trips and I am shut out again.” Before Andromeda could say something, Narcissa had stormed off to her dormitory.

The next morning, a magnificent and elegant barn owl deposited a red envelope in front of Andromeda’s plate. A voice in her head said:  _ Whoops, there it is _ . Knowing it was worse to let it explode, Andromeda opened it and buried her face in her hands immediately, so as to receive the blow somewhat shielded.

“ANDROMEDA CALLIDORA BLACK, I CANNOT BELIEVE I AM YELLING AT A PIECE OF PARCHMENT BECAUSE OF YOU.” She waited for the mention of the ECI, but instead: “SINCE THE MIDDLE AGES THE HOUSE OF BLACK HAS KEPT ITSELF HONOURABLE, ALL SO THAT YOU COULD DISGRACE IT LIKE THIS. MUGGLE STUDIES! THE FACE YOUR AUNT WALBURGA MADE WHEN SHE READ THE LETTER I RECEIVED FROM CISSY. MUGGLE STUDIES! I DID NOT RAISE YOU TO SPEND TIME AND WITS ON SUCH A SUBJECT. I HAVE CERTAINLY KEPT THIS INFORMATION FROM YOUR FATHER, IT WOULD KILL HIM TO KNOW. YOU ARE MOST DECIDEDLY GROUNDED, YOU ARE NOT GETTING ANY MONEY FOR YOUR NEXT VISIT TO HOGSMEADE.” The voice coming from the red paper cleared its throat. “We also heard you made it into the Quidditch team. Your father is pleased.” The letter consumed itself. General laughter was heard in the Great Hall. All in all, it hadn’t been so bad. Her father was pleased, she had never ever done anything that had pleased her father. That almost made the howler a good thing. She grabbed quill and parchment, and once she was done, she whistled. A few moments later, Maia had arrived, ready for her new mission. Andromeda tied the letter to Maia’s leg. Uncle Alphard would want to know about the howler. Certainly, by dinner Maia was back, carrying a brief letter and a small velvety bag.

> Dear Andromeda,
> 
> I went to visit your mother after I received your letter about the howler. I had never fought off laughter harder in my life. Thank you for that. I hope this makes up for getting grounded. Please update me on any developments. Keep on being a rebel and take care.
> 
> Love,
> 
> Uncle Alphard.

Andromeda smiled. In the velvet bag there was more than enough to make up for her lost allowance plus, she still had the money her uncle had given her for her birthday. After dinner, when she was back in her common room, Bellatrix came by where she was sitting with Juno and Rose and stood there in menacing silence until they left, which didn’t take very long, if truth be told.

“Wait here,” she said. A second later, she was back with Narcissa. “Sit,” she told her. Narcissa sat on a green velvety armchair, and Bellatrix sat next to Andromeda in the sofa. It was the most familiar she’d been to her since the ECI. “Cissy, what you did was wrong. Even if I agree that Dromeda’s choice is an insult to our family, you can’t just rat her out to our parents. How do you think that howler reflects on us? We have an image to protect, Cissy. In this castle, what you do reflects on us just as much as what we do reflects on you. We have to be as united a front as we possibly can. Even if it means that Dromeda here gets more freedom than she deserves. Before, we knew she had Muggle Studies and maybe a couple other people. Now  _ the entire school _ knows. We are sisters, we are Blacks. Toujours pur.” Andromeda was moved by her sister’s words.

“Thank you, Trix.”

“I’m still pissed at you after what you did last year. Do not think for a second that I don’t resent you. You should know better. I am doing nothing about it only because in here you may pull all the stupid stunts you want but once you graduate, once you’re out there in the real world, you’ll have to behave. You’ll have to do what you’re told and uphold the family name. If we weren’t sisters, I would’ve already put you to throw up slugs. Just so we’re clear.”

“Crystal.”

“What happened last year?” Narcissa asked.

“Uh-uh, Cissy. You’ve just blurted out to our parents. You’ll have to earn the right to be told sensitive information.”

“Well, at least Dromeda doesn’t have any money to go to Hogsmeade.” Narcissa comforted herself, and Andromeda smiled.

“Sure, you keep telling yourself that.”


	15. hogsmeade

The wonderful thing about Hogsmeade, Andromeda soon realised, is that everyone was so caught up on their own plans and fun, that they barely paid any attention to anything or anyone. Professor Slughorn had made them all stand in a queue, and told them rules that, Andromeda guessed from the older students’ bored expressions, he repeated every year. So when they crossed the castle’s gates towards the town, everybody scattered and she felt suddenly free. No one would be eavesdropping, no one would care what she did or what she didn’t. She would just spend a pleasant day with her friends. Juno was in very high spirits, Dedalus Diggle, a Ravenclaw a year older, had asked her to a butterbeer at The Three Broomsticks. So she waved at them as she left, wide smile on her face. Fate, a Ravenclaw girl she and Rose often teamed up with in Potions, spotted them and came by to greet them.

“Hi Andy, Rose.”

“Hi Fate.” Her green eyes were sparkling with excitement and her frizzy hair stroke her shoulders as it fell freely from her head. “Andy, so you mind if Rose comes with me to Zonko’s? There’s something I really want to show her.”

“Not at all, I’ll see you later, I guess.” She waved them off, and kept on walking by herself.  _ I don’t want  _ this _ much freedom _ , she thought. She was supposed to meet Gideon at Honeydukes anyway, so she decided to leave it at making a mental note to ask Rose what Fate wanted to show her. A voice interrupted her thoughts.

“Black!” At her side, a blond head and a pair of golden eyes appeared, grinning broadly.

“Hi, Tonks!” She said, surprised he’d decided to start conversation with her.

“You alone on your visit to Hogsmeade?” He was wearing a blue jacket, which contrasted nicely with his hair and eyes.

“I’m on my way to meet Gid at Honeydukes.”

“Oh, I see.” He stopped in his tracks for a second. Then caught up to her. “Do you mind if I walk with you on your way over there?” Andromeda made a surprised face.

“No, but you should mind. If Trix spots you, she’ll be cursing you faster than you can react.”

“Noted. You call your sister Trix?”

“Yeah, what’s the matter with that?” He chuckled.

“Well, it’s funny in two ways. First, it’s a brand of muggle cereal and, second, it sounds an awful lot like Trixie. And Trixie sounds like a stripper name.” Andromeda snorted. It was not the attractive laugh she’d developed over the years, but a roar of laughter that would’ve echoed down the street, had it been empty.

“You know what, I just might start calling her Trixie. The muggle cereal brand would be a cool offence, but if she doesn’t get it, there’s no point.”

“You have a nice laugh.” He said, frankly, and Andromeda smiled coyly.

“Why, thank you. To be honest, though, I can’t remember the last time I laughed like that. Mother would have frowned disapprovingly if I’d laughed in such an undignified manner in front of her.”

“Your family seems gloomy.”

“You have no idea.”

“Black?”

“Yes?”

“I’m sorry I misjudged you.” Andromeda’s expression softened, a never-seen-before tenderness wrinkling around her eyes and her nose.

“That’s quite alright. Don’t worry about that anymore.” She saw Honeydukes’s sign pop in front of her. “Oh, look, we’re already here. Wanna come in? I’m sure Gideon will be happy to see you.”

“Okay.” Inside, they were distracted by the mountains of candy in every colour, shape and smell. It took Andromeda a while to remember she was supposed to be looking for Gideon. At last, she found his ginger head amidst the crowd. She put her hand on his shoulder and, to her surprise, it was Fabian who turned to face her. They looked so alike that, from the back, it was difficult to tell them apart.

“Andy!” He said, merrily.

“Fabian! Whoa, you surprised me, I thought you were Gid.” He laughed.

“Don’t tell him that, he’ll think too highly of himself. Who is this with you?” Tonks was looking charming and kind, smiling politely.

“Oh, this is Tonks. I ran into him on my way over here, I’m supposed to be looking for Gid.” Fabian’s eyes sparkled with something Andromeda was unable to distinguish.

“Hi there,” said he, holding out his hand out for Fabian to shake it. Fabian did, studying him very meticulously.

“Hi.” He turned to Andromeda. “So, um, would you wanna meet me later at The Three Broomsticks?”

“Sure.” Fabian smiled and waved goodbye as he disappeared again into the crowd. Gideon appeared just as he had left.

“Is it me or did you just accept to go on a date with my brother?” Gideon said, grinning mischievously.

“I am pretty positive she did,” Tonks admitted.

“What?” Andromeda laughed. “We’re just  _ friends _ . He asked me to The Three Broomsticks as  _ friends _ that’s—oh Merlin. Did I just agree to go on a date with Fabian?” Gideon smiled apologetically.

“Is that a bad thing or a good thing?” Ted asked.

“I—I don’t know.” Andromeda confessed. She hadn’t given boys a second thought since Rabastan had been an arse and had deceived her into liking him the previous year. Fabian was handsome, for sure, but did she want to date him? “I guess I’ll have to figure it out later.” She shrugged. “So, Gid. What have you prepared for today?” Gideon’s eyes shone with excitement.

“Oh, you’re gonna love it. First, we get what we want here, and  _ then _ … let’s say you’ll be praying your sister gives you a reason to take revenge on her.”

“Well I have two sisters this year with me, so the opportunities have doubled.”

“Excellent. Ted, you in?” Ted looked doubtful.

“In for what?”

“For some fun, of course.” Andromeda bought herself some Glacial Snow Flakes, and Fizzing Whizzbees, before they left. Gideon took them to Zonko’s next, Andromeda looked for Rose and Fate but they were clearly long gone.

“You should get one of these,” Gideon told her, handing her a Nose-Biting Teacup. “Dungbombs also come in handy, even if you think they won’t.” Gideon was so excited Andromeda giggled by looking at him. He kept pointing at stuff and marvelling at certain prank devices. Ted seemed surprised to know half the stuff in there was not illegal.

“You were really looking forward to visiting Hogsmeade, weren’t you?” Gideon grinned.

“Well, of course. So much material just laying around for my genius plans. Fabian always said it was better for me not to put them in motion. My brother is quite brilliant but lacks some compulsive need to break the rules that I,” he picked up a bag of Hiccough Sweets, “most certainly have.” Ted, on his turn, bought some Sugar Quills, Andromeda also got some, and they all left Zonko’s pretty satisfied.

“What are you up to now?” Andromeda asked.

“My housemates and I are going to check out the new house they’re building nearby. Maybe some new store will be opening soon,” Ted said.

“Gryffindor butterbeer meeting. I’m going to try and see if I can get Doc to eat one of the Hiccough Sweets.” Andromeda smirked, then remember her meeting with Fabian.

“And I apparently have a date.” She said, and after saying goodbye to Ted, Gideon and her walked to The Three Broomsticks, where he left her once he saw his housemates, who all waved smiling at the sight of Andromeda. The Three Broomsticks, Andromeda was glad to notice, did not look inherently like a date-y place. There were some couples sitting here and there, but it was mostly filled with groups of students discussing different topics animatedly. Fabian was waiting for her on a table visible enough from the entrance but not too close to it, either. She sat down, her pockets full of sweets. He had apparently bought some things as well, a small bag sitting next to him.

“Hi Andy,” he said, smiling at her.

“Hi.” Fabian was very relaxed, but Andromeda was a mess, she’d stumbled on her way in, and had almost tripped before she sat down in front of him. Her face was flushed and she kept playing with the hem of her sweater.

“Should we order?”

“Sure.” She was thinking of the best way to say what she wanted to say, but she couldn’t handle the nerves, so she just said it. “Is this a date?” Now it was Fabian’s turn to become a mess. His face went as red as his hair, and he smiled nervously as he played with the collar of his shirt.

“No. No. I only wanted to hang out, like you said, remember?”

“Oh,” Andromeda said, embarrassed.

“Why, what gave you that impression?” They were cut off by Rosmerta, a young witch from Hufflepuff who helped her father to run the place on the weekends they visited Hogsmeade.

“Hi Rosmerta,” they both greeted her.

“Hi guys, two butterbeers, am I right?” They nodded. “Coming right up.”

“Gid heard you asking me to meet you here and said you were asking me out.” She blushed. “I’m sorry for jumping to conclusions. It’s just that, if I ever agree to go on a date, I want to do so knowing I’m agreeing to a date.” Fabian nodded.

“I’m gonna kill him,” he sentenced. “Would you, though?”

“What?” Fabian’s nose and ears were pink.

“Would you have agreed to come if I had been asking you on a date?” Andromeda’s pulse began racing. She looked into Fabian’s trapping brown eyes, feeling her throat tighten.

“I don’t know. I guess you’ll have to find out on your own if you ever feel like asking me out.” When their butterbeers arrived, they drank it in embarrassed but comfortable silence, stealing glances at each other, with their hearts racing.


	16. fabian

If Andromeda had known that dating Fabian would last less than the blink of an eye, maybe she would’ve done things differently. Nevertheless, if she had been allowed a peek at her entire future, she would’ve dated him a thousand times to ensure her life would go as it was supposed to. Of course, she would try and change the painful bits but, wouldn’t we all? That was why Divination and prophecies were such delicate things. It could become very frustrating to know we have, ultimately, very little control over our lives. That’s why, since they were unable to see the future, after Hogsmeade, Andromeda and Fabian started hanging out together an awful lot. Gideon was slightly sulky because Andromeda had less time for him, between her meet ups with Fabian and her Quidditch practices.

“Andy, are you listening?” Tonks’s voice took her out of her trance.

“I’m sorry, what?”

“I just asked you if you thought professor McGonagall gives out difficult homework on purpose, so that we don’t get a chance to slack off in her class.” They had Transfiguration together. The bell had rung and everybody was picking up their books, quills, ink, and parchment, and leaving the room. Only Andromeda, and Tonks, who was kind enough to take her out of her reverie, were still sitting on their desks.

“There’s homework? Merlin’s beard, I can’t believe I drifted off, McGonagall is going to give me such a hard time, she already thinks my magic is rubbish.” Tonks smiled sympathetically.

“Oh, don’t be so hard on yourself. She only said it needs improvement. Honestly, she tells that to everyone.”

“Not to you, she does not. It’s easy to say that when she never has anything bad to say about your transfigurations.” Tonks shrugged, unapologetically.

“We all have different strengths. Now move, I’m not going to wait for you forever. The class is already over, and I have Potions next.” Andromeda got to her feet immediately, and walked next to him.

“Thanks for making sure I didn’t stay sitting there into the following class.”

“What were you so caught up on?”

“Quidditch,” she lied. Tonks made an expression of disbelief.

“If you are thinking of Ravenclaw’s beater then sure, we can say you’re thinking of Quidditch all—”

“Say, Tonks. If you like someone, but you’re not sure you  _ like _ like them, do you still go out with them?” He scratched his head, unsure. Tonks weighed the possibilities. If he asked someone out and they said yes, but down the line they realised it wasn’t working, would he rather they’d said no? But even people who  _ loved _ each other sometimes fell apart. There was no guarantee, was there? Only bets.

“I guess if I am a bit into someone, even if I’m not a hundred percent sure of how things will develop, I’d still go out with them. Even if I had absolute certainty about my feelings, there’s no guarantee things are gonna work out, right? So I guess you only need to be fifty one percent sure.” Andromeda felt things calm down in her brain. Yes, that made sense, it was perfectly sensible.

“You know what, Tonks? You’re right. You’re amazing, it’s such a pity we’d never talked much before. You’re quite brilliant.” Tonks blushed, a humble expression on his face.

“Thanks I—you’re pretty great, too.”

“Well, here we ought to part. Good luck on your Potions class.” He saw Andromeda smiling as she took the stairs up and in the opposite direction from him, who had to go down to get to the dungeons. Demeter Jones, one of his housemates, was peering curiously at him when he walked into the Potions’ classroom.

“What a curious expression you’ve got on your face, Ted, may I take a guess?” Ted shook his head as he took out some books out of his bag and took a seat next to her. “I think,” she ignored his gesture, “you’ve just been talking with the tame Black. Have you not?”

“Her name is Andromeda.” They heard professor Slughorn tell them the task of the class. They had to begin brewing a shrinking solution. Ted poured the Shrivelfig’s ruby blood into the cauldron and began stirring slowly.

“Oh, so you’re in a first-name basis already?”

“Not at all, I just think it rude to call someone ‘tame’.” Demeter seemed incredulous. She began mincing their daisy roots.

“What were you two talking about?”

“I believe I just gave her dating advice. She had some doubts about the Ravenclaw Prewett.” Demeter smacked his head teasingly.

“Are you mad? How are you supposed to date her if she’s dating someone else?”

“I don’t intend to date her, Demie. I want to be her friend. I admire her, she strikes me as someone highly interesting and worthy of developing a friendship with.” Demeter rolled her eyes.

“You’re so dense. If you want to go with ‘admiration’, that’s fine. Do you want to know what I think of the matter?” Ted shook his head again, adding hairy caterpillars to their cauldron. “Yes you do. I think that you’ve had a crush on her ever since you saw her put Podmore in his place, which she was quite right to do, mind you, I’m not judging her. You’ve been so embarrassed to face you have a crush on her you had to have her bust you avoiding her in order to realign your strategy. And now, that you have cleared the air between you and that you can talk to her freely, you are again playing it safe.”

“I’m playing it to get to friendship. Which is what I am looking for in her. A friend.”

“Alright, if you say so.” But it was clear that Demeter did not think Ted was being sincere with himself.

 

Fabian was sitting in the windowsill of one of the corridors in the seventh floor. Andromeda arrived with her breath uneven, but otherwise in much better conditions than the average student, after going up seven flights of stairs.

“Hey! You barely look tired at all. Those Quidditch practices must be really making you break a sweat.”

“I’m not telling you anything about my Quidditch practices. I barely escaped the ECI without my entire house hating me, I am not risking a leak of information that might be precious.” Fabian held up his hands.

“Alright, alright. How was Transfiguration?”

“I got distracted and I totally failed to pay attention to what McGonagall said about our homework. When Tonks brought me back to focus, almost everybody had left the room. I guess I’ll have to ask Rose, she probably left quickly to get to her Divination class.”

“You’ve been mentioning this Tonks bloke a lot lately. He was with you at Hogsmeade, too.” Andromeda smiled fondly at the mention of Tonks’s name.

“Yeah, isn’t it great? I’d been feeling guilty for the longest time, and now we might even be friends. I’m very grateful for that.” Fabian took in every word, being very careful not to show his concern.

“I’m glad you two can be friends.” He jumped off the windowsill. “Wanna go sit for a while at the North Wing? I hear there’s not many people at this hour.” ‘Not many people’ was a bit of a stretch, Andromeda thought when they arrived, as it was practically deserted.

“What class did you just have? Arithmancy?” She asked, as they took a seat on one of the sofas, between some bookshelves. They’d been to the North Wing a couple times, when the weather had not allowed them to study outside, and the library was crowded. It was cosy and often not very full, it was usually frequented by couples, readers who needed a little chatter as white noise to concentrate, and the occasional study group. Since it was in the seventh floor, most Ravenclaws and Gryffindors preferred their common rooms, and almost the entirety of Slytherin and Hufflepuff thought it a bother to climb all those stairs.

“Yeah, it’s getting more and more interesting. I don’t get why people bother taking subjects like Divination or Muggle Studies when they could take Arithmancy. No offence.”

“None taken. I just thought it would offer me a different perspective from the one I was raised with.”

“Just don’t get blasted off the tapestry,” he warned her, jokingly.

“It’s not like I’m  _ trying _ to get blasted off the tapestry.” She chuckled. “I just want to be different from my sisters. Be free, not trapped like they are in that stupid ideology.” Fabian’s eyes became more gentle, his lips curving into a comforting smile. He tugged longingly on the ribbon Molly had given her, which was adorning her upward lace braid.

“You couldn’t be more different from them, Andy. From anyone, really. I have never met anyone quite as distinct as you.” Andy realised, with a jump of her heart, how close they were. He was so close she could see clearly the frontier between his irises and the void of his pupils. His eyes shone fervently. “Andy… remember you thought I’d asked you out in Hogsmeade?” Andy could her heartbeat in her ears. It was alarmingly fast.

“Yes?”

“What would you have said, if I’d actually asked you out? I know you liked Rabastan and I acted like a jerk but, I think things have changed, haven’t they?”

“They have. Why do you want to know? Are you asking me out now?” Fabian put his hands on her cheeks. He held her face in a way that felt assertive and gentle. He held her gaze, steadily, and his hands on her face made Andromeda feel warm, safe. She could not look away from his eyes. They were the most trapping brown, like sugar turning into caramel.

“I am.” Gingerly but decidedly, Andromeda put her hands around Fabian’s neck.  _ You only need to be fifty one percent sure _ . And she kissed him. Fabian, for all the ‘I’ll grab your face tenderly with my hands and make you fall in love with me’ bit, had not been expecting that. He whimpered in surprise, but followed by tightening his hold of her face and kissing her back. It felt good. Very good. They faces parted and they both had the same dumb grin on their face. They sat very quiet for a couple of minutes. Their hands touching each other’s hands, each other’s hair, each other’s faces. Proximity was such a funny thing, how someone can be close and not touching you, how someone else, with your consent, could most certainly touch you. Their hands settled on interlaced fingers and Andromeda contemplated Fabian’s face. He was a paint in bronze. Bronze freckles, bronze hair, bronze eyes. And then the pink on his cheeks and his ears and his neck. So much pink. She wondered if she looked pink, too. (She did, on her cheeks and her nose). “So is that a yes?” Andromeda laughed.

“I will still keep my Quidditch practices secret.” She said, tracing the freckles on his arms. “But yes, I will go out with you.” He kissed her again, and Andromeda felt silly for having ever worried about it, they were going to be just fine.


	17. the green-eyed monster

They were not, however, going to be just fine. Someone had seen them in the North Wing and, by dinner, the entire school knew the middle Black and the Ravenclaw Prewett had been cuddling in the North Wing. Bellatrix had a look of being unimpressed by her sister’s behaviour and Narcissa was overtly excited.

“Nice catch, Andy!” Juno told her. “Al is also in the same year and house as Prewett, maybe we can do a double date next time we visit Hogsmeade.” Andromeda did not particularly enjoy the idea of a double date, but nodded all the same.

“Sure.”

“I can’t believe you’d told us nothing about it!” Rose complained. “Aren’t we your friends? I never even knew you liked Fabian.” She thought confessing she hadn’t even been sure herself would create nasty rumours if anyone overheard them, so she just shrugged apologetically.

“The Prewetts are not very rich, but at least they are purebloods,” Narcissa observed. “Prewett is very good-looking, I understand why you’d go for him even if he doesn’t have much money. You’d still be inheriting money from father and mother so, I guess it’s not that bad.”

“Sweet Merlin, Cissy, does it all have to be about marriage for you?” Andromeda replied, flustered.

“Well, of course, Dromeda. I do not look forward to a life where I have to _work_. That’s beneath me.” Andromeda rolled her eyes.

“Aunt Lucretia married a Prewett, so I guess it’ll be fine.” Bellatrix chipped in, from a few seats over.

“You too, Trixie?” Bellatrix rolled her eyes at her new nickname.

“Although surprisingly, Cissy is right, Dromeda. The way you behave these days… I wouldn’t be surprised if you got disowned. But the Prewetts are at least part of the family so—” Andromeda chose not to keep listening. She’d forgotten about aunt Lucretia. Brilliant, now she was dating her political cousin, twice removed.

“I hate my stupid inbred family,” she whispered to Rose. As she was making her way out of the Great Hall, Gideon intercepted her.

“I am so disappointed in you,” he was shaking his head. “I always thought you had better taste, Andy. Yet you chose the worse-looking Prewett.” Andromeda rolled her eyes, chuckling.

“Would you even want to go out with me?” Gideon made a face of disgust.

“Of course not. You’re like my sister. But it pains me you didn’t even _try_.” Molly appeared behind him and pulled at his ear.

“Don’t go teasing poor Andy like that, Gideon.” She turned to Andromeda. “I’m so happy you two got together. Fabian was always talking about you, it had me a little worried, honestly.” Then Molly got closer, and whispered something in her ear. “Don’t you dare break Fabian’s heart. I like you, but I won’t if I get word you hurt him.” She stepped back smiling, her eyes a silent death threat. Andromeda shivered, Molly was bloody scary. “I’m so glad you’re now part of the family. You two can go on double dates with me and Arthur” What was it with everyone and double dates? Gideon rolled his eyes. When Molly left, Gideon walked with her towards her common room—‘It’s no problem, really, I can barely feel the climb up the stairs anymore.’

“Bet you she just threatened to kill you. Don’t listen to her, she’s just very protective of us. She loves you already, she’ll have to get over it if you and Fabian break up.” Gideon went very serious. “What I won’t tolerate, is if you put up with Fabian’s rubbish just to stay in good terms with us. Or if you stop talking to me or make it awkward if you two happen to break up. We’re friends. Forever. You’re stuck with me, for better or for worse.” Andromeda was moved. She hugged Gideon very tightly, all the Slytherin who passed them by on their way to the common room giving them strange looks.

“Thanks, Gid.” She ruffled his hair, affectionately. “You’re stuck with me, too.” He grinned.

 

The second match of the season was Slytherin versus Ravenclaw and everybody was pumped up. Gryffindor had won against Hufflepuff in the previous match, and the winner of this match would be favourite along with Gryffindor for the Cup. Rita Skeeter was commenting the match. The players stood in a neat line in front of each other. Fletcher, Slytherin’s team captain, shook hands with Fawcett, Ravenclaw’s team captain. Professor Sprout was refereeing. Andromeda caught a glance of Fabian. He looked very handsome in his Quidditch robes. He grinned confidently when he saw her watching him. She looked so fierce and pretty with her hair braided so it wouldn’t get on her face. In a second, they were all in the air.

“It begins!” Skeeter’s high-pitched voice announced. “An exciting match, even more so with all the gossip that’s been going around. Did you know one of Ravenclaw’s beaters is dating the newest Slytherin chaser? Cause I certainly did—”

“Skeeter, comment the match, please,” professor Morton said. She rolled her eyes.

“Slytherin’s in possession! Black, Fletcher, Zabini, wow, they really like to move around, Black again, doesn’t she look gorgeous on that broom? It’d be a pity if Ravenclaw’s beater were distracted by her—”

“Skeeter!”

“Sorry, professor. Oh, and Lloyd intercepts the quaffle! Ravenclaw in possession, oh my, the young Bagman surely knows how to beat a bludger! That was very close for Lloyd! But Diggle catches the quaffle and Ravenclaw’s still in possession… and scores! Lestrange must be surely feeling like a clown, it was like he didn’t even see Diggle coming. Slytherin in possession, Fletcher, Zabini, Fletcher, Black… well that’s a broken heart! Prewett has just beat a bludger in her direction! She dodges flawlessly, does Black take Quidditch ballet lessons? Cause that was just artistic! She scores! It’s ten to ten and Ravenclaw is now in possession and Lloyd seems like she is going to make up for the lost lead—Lestrange dives! He’s seen the snitch! Funny little fact, one of my sources says they saw Black kissing Lestrange on the cheek very flirtily last year outside of their common room! What a heartbreak—”

“Skeeter, the match, please!”

“Professor, the public must know because—see! Prewett just beats the bludger in Lestrange’s direction! Oh, that must’ve hurt! Strategy or jealousy? We’ll never know. Lestrange has lost the snitch. Slytherin has requested a time out!”

Rabastan was furious, the bludger had hit him on his arm, which was now bent in a strangle angle, most clearly broken. He walked up to Andromeda, red with rage.

“Can you keep your boyfriend on a leash, Andromeda? That fucking hurt!”

“Young Lestrange, for Merlin’s sake you could’ve totally dodged that!” Fletcher was furious at Rabastan. “Look at your arm, you can’t play like that anymore. Go to Madam Hypnos, McLean will have to finish the game. Thank Merlin we had a replacement.” Rabastan was sulking, and that made Fletcher even angrier. “GO NOW!” He took in the rest of the team’s faces. “Black, Skeeter is a pest, but she is commenting the match, so if she’s gonna keep blurting nonsense, use it to your favour. Distract Prewett if McLean sees the snitch.” She nodded. “McLean, you better make me not regret my decision of putting you in the team.”

“Yes!”

“Lestrange, whatever kind of lousy keeper you’re playing, quit it, we have to win this match.” He turned to Bagman and Carrow. “And I want those bludgers threatening to throw people off their brooms all the time, you hear me? I’d rather give Ravenclaw a foul than have you flying around doing nothing.” Time out was over, and they were all up in the air. They were up by ten points, sixty to fifty, when they saw Fawcett rush past them, and they knew what they had to do. McLean rushed forward and, being lighter and smaller than Fawcett, she soon caught up to her. Andromeda looked around the field and caught Fabian’s eye just in time, winking, making Fabian hit the bludger just a centimetre off, which was enough for it to miss Juno entirely. Bagman’s beat did not miss, however, and Fawcett had to pull away from the snitch to avoid being hit. In a moment, there was silence. Then, Juno held up the snitch. They had won. A lot of Slytherins were waiting for them outside the changing rooms. Andromeda felt like she truly belonged to her house for the first time in her life, as students from all years patted her in the back and congratulated her. She felt her chest expand and she felt warm and happy. Even more happy was Juno, who was being held up by Fletcher and Zabini and was smiling from ear to ear. Once people had had enough of them, she was able to change out of her sweaty robes and take a much needed shower. Once she was ready, she and Juno made their way back to the castle. That was when they saw Fabian, waiting, his hair still wet from the shower. Juno made a face that looked a lot like ‘I’m skipping this fight’, and kept on walking. Andromeda was still smiling from their victory, and it was only when she saw Fabian’s annoyed expression that her smile faded.

“That,” Fabian began saying, “was out of line.”

“What? Winning? I’m sorry Fabe, but you can’t expect me to lose my matches against you on purpose. I thought you’d be happy for me. I’d be happy for you, if you had won.”

“It’s not about winning. You winked at me on purpose to make sure I lost focus! That is a very low move and you know it.” Andromeda shrugged.

“You could’ve done the same you know? I’m not mad you beat a bludger at me.”

“Because that’s a legal move in the game!”

“Okay, so my winking at you was out of line, but your hitting the bludger in Rabastan’s direction when Skeeter said I’d kissed him was not.”

“He was about to catch the snitch!”

“And he had to get a broken arm for it?”

“That’s his fault, I only got the bludger close to him.”

“Are we really going to have this fight?”

“Why are you even defending him?”

“I’m defending myself, you accuse me of playing dirty, well, I don’t know of any rule that forbids me from winking at my boyfriend during the game when he looks handsome.”

“And he’s about to avoid the opposite team’s seeker—you thought I looked handsome?” Andromeda smiled.

“Of course, the Quidditch uniform really suits you.” Fabian looked appeased for a second, then went back to being angry.

“You’re doing it again!”

“Oh, come on, Fabe, give me a break!” They stood there, angry, for a minute without looking at each other and without saying a word.

“Did you really think I looked handsome?” Andromeda rolled her eyes and gave a long-suffering sigh.

“Yes. I wouldn’t date you if I didn’t find you attractive. I’ve always thought you’re good-looking.” Fabian smiled.

“I’m sorry. I should be more supportive of your victory. It is ultimately my fault if I get distracted during the match.”

“You think?”

“I already said I’m sorry, alright? Let’s go have some lunch, I’m starving.”

“Okay. Alright. Just promise me we won’t have a fight like this again.”

“I promise.”

They did have a fight like that one again. And again and again. Because Rabastan’d had the little sense to sit next to her one morning during breakfast—although they weren’t even talking to each other—, because Tonks had lent her his notes so that she could figure out the Transfiguration homework, and because Podmore had told her a joke and she’d laughed on their way out of Muggle Studies. If he’d heard about Andromeda studying together with Gates and Nolan for Ancient Runes, they would’ve fought about that, too. She was growing increasingly uneasy and angry. Relationships weren’t supposed to be like that, were they? At last, Christmas was coming, and so was the last visit to Hogsmeade before the holidays. Her sisters would be leaving, but she’d be staying. She’d told her parents she had lots to study but, in reality, she was just happier in the castle than at home. Hogsmeade began as a fun date. She remembered the reasons why she’d decided to kiss him in the North Wing, and she had the best time drinking butterbeer and watching their chocolate frogs get away. They also bought presents. She got some Dungbombs and some _Bertie Bott’s Every Flavour Beans_ for Gideon, some cauldron cakes and a pheasant quill for Molly. For Arthur she got a book on Muggle electricity: _The Muggle Spark_ , and for her sisters she got matching pins with the letter “B”, all three in beautiful silver. For Rose she got a prank magic ball and for Juno a Broomstick Servicing Kit. She also purchased a bunch of Sugar Quills, and finally she bought a couple of gloves, in shiny yellow.

“Who are those for?” Fabian asked. His Christmas purchases had been fewer and cheaper, and was starting to feel flustered by the amount of money Andromeda was spending on Christmas presents. “Haven’t you already bought presents for half the castle?” Andromeda shot him an annoyed look.

“It’s Christmas, Fabe. I want people to know I care about them.”

“You haven’t bought anything for your parents,” he observed.

“They don’t deserve a present from me. Anyhow, this is for Tonks.” She immediately realised she shouldn’t have said that, but it was too late.

“Are you getting stuff for all of your classmates now?”

“No, just Tonks.” She thought she could’ve lied but, honestly, she wasn’t going to buy things for all of her classmates just to avoid pissing Fabian off. For reasons she could not understand, Fabian was specially sensitive to any mention of either Rabastan or Tonks.

“Why just Tonks?”

“Because he has been really nice to me. And he lent me his notes so that I could do my Transfiguration homework, really, Fabe, we’ve covered this,” she said in an exhausted tone. “Can you please _please_ not make a big deal out of this?”

“Why do you care so much about him?” She rolled her eyes.

“He’s a _friend_ , Fabe, I’ve told you a million times. I also got Rose, Gideon, and Juno presents. Why don’t you ask me why I bought _them_ a present now?”

“You know what I mean, Andy.”

“No! Honestly, I don’t know what you mean. You’re insufferable, Fabe. You’re an awesome lad and a great friend but I’m almost convinced that you’re a terrible boyfriend! Everything with you is a fight. I can’t even say ‘hello’ to some other boy without you getting all worked up. You make a scene about everything and I’m sick and tired of this! Dating is supposed to be fun, I’m thirteen for Merlin’s sake, I’m supposed to be giggly about kissing and worrying about whether or not you’d think I look prettier with lip gloss on. But I’m done.”

“What do you mean you’re done?” He asked, suddenly alarmed.

“I mean I’m done as in ‘I’m breaking up with you’ done.” She said, storming off.

“Andy, wait!” But she didn’t look back and he stood there in the snow, his breath fogging up, the streetlights seemingly making fun of him, by making the scene warm and romantic. When Andromeda got back to the castle, she sulked all through dinner and didn’t speak a word to anyone, so angry she was. In the middle of dinner, an owl dropped a parcel in front of her. She opened it and sighed.

“What is it?” Rose dared to ask, noticing her aura had changed.

“I bought this a while ago, I had forgotten all about it.” She showed her the receipt. “I bought a couple things from an antique store. One is a marble Wizard's Chess for my uncle Alphard. The other one was a wristwatch for Fabian.” She sat there, looking at the watch. It had stars instead of hands and it looked like the kind of thing Fabian would’ve really liked. She felt like crying.

In the end, Andromeda thought it best to go back home for the holidays. She still sent Fabian his watch. It seemed to her it could not possibly belong or be worn by anyone else. She’d attached a note which said it was a peace offering, and asked whether he could find it in him to keep being her friend. She didn’t receive a reply. She was glad to notice she still had gotten a gift from Molly (a knitted hat, with a pompom and everything), which clearly meant she didn’t blame her for the breakup. Gideon had given her a pair of gloves, and had sent her several letters. The last one read like this:

 

> Dear Andy,
> 
> I assure you, once again, that I have no resentment towards you for breaking up with Fabian. I’m actually glad you did it. He was out of control and you deserve better. Fabian is really cool and so are you, I just think you had bad timing, he started liking you when you liked someone else, and I think it was too hard for him to get past that insecurity. You’ll be glad to know that I absolutely love your presents, and I intend to put the Dungbombs to very good use. Molly was thrilled with her quill, and Arthur came by this morning for breakfast, and he would not shut up about the book you gave him. I’m pretty sure he squealed when he opened it. I look forward to seeing you back at the castle. Spoiler alert: I intend in no way to let you distract me on our next match. I still tease Fabian about that, and he has stopped snapping at me for it and has begun to laugh with me, which is a sign that he’ll make a full recovery. I am confident that in a few weeks time, he’ll be ready to be friends with you again.
> 
> P.S. He put on the watch you sent him and hasn’t taken it off ever since.
> 
> P.S.2 He told me not to tell you about it but he has clearly hit his head if he thinks I’m gonna follow through on that.
> 
> P.S.3 He got upset when he read the letter over my shoulder and realised I told you anyway, so I’d add an extra week to that estimate time I gave you for when he’ll be ready to be your friend again.
> 
> P.S.4 He still hasn’t taken off the watch.
> 
> P.S.5 Molly says that if I was gonna write so many postdatas I should’ve just kept writing instead. To annoy her, I’m gonna add another one after this one.
> 
> P.S.6 You’re awesome, never change.

 

At his home back with his muggle family, Ted Tonks found a small package wrapped carefully in golden paper. He picked it up and read the note attached to it.

 

> Dear Tonks,
> 
> Happy Christmas! I noticed on our last visit to Hogsmeade that you weren’t wearing gloves, even though it was pretty cold outside. I hope I’m not jumping to conclusions, but I got you some to thank you for being so nice to me, and lending me your notes. Also, something sweet just because you’re brilliant.
> 
> See you in class,
> 
> Andromeda.

He tore the paper open and saw a pair of bright yellow gloves, and some Sugar Quills. He was smiling so wide, his mother caught some interest in the package.

“Who’s it from, Teddy?” His eyes mirrored the fairy lights on the Christmas tree.

“Just a well wisher.” He hadn’t gotten her anything, but that was the last Christmas that would go by in a very, very long time, that Andromeda wouldn’t get a present from him.


	18. house of black holiday bingo

Back from Christmas holidays, Andromeda was pleased to see Tonks walking to Transfiguration with the gloves she’d given him, which was a relief. She’d been afraid he already had gloves of his own and she’d rudely assumed he didn’t. Gryffindor had won the match against Slytherin and Andromeda and Gideon laughed for hours when she told him how Fletcher had yelled at Rabastan for ten minutes straight—no pauses—for not catching the snitch. Just as Gideon had predicted, it only took Fabian a couple of weeks, plus the week for telling her about the watch, to get over their break up and start talking to her again. Of course, they did not spend as much time together as before, but that was okay. They still had an end-of-year party together, which ultimately was kind of thing that they would remember later in life. There were no tutorship graduations to celebrate, but they organised a little something anyway, just for the fun of it. Andromeda was happy to notice that Fabian was still wearing the watch she’d given him.

Another year was over and it was back to Black Garden where Andromeda had an entire summer with her cousins to look forward to. Their parents were still too busy in meetings with other pureblood families, and the worst part of it all was that not only they weren’t visiting France, or Spain, or Portugal, or Italy, or Greece, much to Narcissa’s dismay, but they were now the crèche to all the children of the families her parents were spending time with. In short, it was going to be a summer surrounded by the people she didn’t like from the Slytherin house—and people she wouldn’t like from the Slytherin house in future years. Her only relief was that her cousin Sirius had to suffer with her. Sirius, who was now seven, had tortured his mother’s nerves so badly that her head had more white hairs than any forty-two year old woman had ever had. Of course, Andromeda thought this was only another charming quality of her seven-year younger cousin, whom she loved with all her heart. It was hard not to love Sirius, when she was surrounded by every single person she could ever want to avoid, and although she loved her sisters in spite of their attitudes, they became just as annoying in the company of such a select group of snobs and spoiled children. So, Andromeda and Sirius would sit together and stand all their idiocy through each morning, praying for lunch to arrive quickly, in order to go visit their uncle Alphard, who would offer the only available moments of relief from the general lunacy that impregnated Black Garden that summer.

“Prepare to be miserable,” Andromeda would tell Sirius each morning.

“I am already miserable,” he would reply, religiously. Their summer, however, improved notoriously one afternoon, when they came back from uncle Alphard’s, and Andromeda had an idea that would make the weeks they had left in that hellhole much bearable—although Sirius pointed out immediately his misery would not be over for another five years, until he turned eleven and he could hop onto the Hogwarts Express and bid it goodbye for ten months straight.

“Let’s make a bingo,” Andromeda proposed, ignoring his melodramatic rant.

“Uh, I’m not sixty, so no thanks.” Andromeda rolled her eyes.

“No, Sirius, I mean like a made-up bingo. Instead of numbers, we write things we expect will happen during this summer, and then we cross them off as they happen, and the first one to cross off a line, wins.”

“Oh, that sounds like fun.” And so, they set up to write their bingoes. They agreed to write down the most probable one instead of the free space, so the center square held the first words they both could remember ever hearing: _Toujours Pur_. They also agreed to write down the next three obvious expressions (mudblood, pureblood, and blood traitor) in the corners, so as not to get unfair advantage by using them to cross a box near the center. Bingoes ready, they were surprised to notice they now looked forward to terrible things happening, just so that they could cross them off their bingoes. They were sitting having breakfast when they crossed three corners at once.

“I am glad this summer my parents decided to send our house elf to make the shopping for my school supplies. I cannot stand walking around Diagon Alley around all those mudbloods and blood traitors. Someone should make a place where we purebloods can go safely without having to mingle with them,” Malfoy said.

“Get over it, Malfoy. Just admit you can’t really do math and you have weak arms, and that’s why you’re glad your house elf is going in your stead,” Andromeda told him.

“Yeah, cause you’re so strong.”

“At least I made the Quidditch team.” There was a general “ohhh”.

“That’s just Fletcher’s lack of judgement. Let’s have a Quidditch match right now, and see who is truly strong.” Andromeda and Sirius grinned, they both had crossed yet another thing off their bingoes. Andromeda had written down ‘Malfoy suggests we play Quidditch’ and Sirius had ‘Let’s play a Quidditch match’. At the mention of Quidditch, a bunch of curious eyes turned to them. Rabastan seemed particularly interested.

“Are you still dating Prewett, Andromeda?” Andromeda was both pissed and glad for the question. Rabastan had tried to start conversation with her every chance he got the past few days. Andromeda just knew the question was coming. She crossed ‘Are you still dating Prewett?’ off her bingo. She would’ve won already if they hadn’t discarded diagonal strikes.

“What have you got there?” Malfoy asked.

“It’s none of your business,” Andromeda replied. She turned to Rabastan. “Not that it concerns you, but no. We broke up.”

“Then let’s make this more interesting,” Rabastan suggested. “If Malfoy’s team wins, you get to grant me a request.” Sirius smirked. _Stupid, predictable Rabastan_ , Sirius thought. He had been making stupid bets that were clearly meant to kiss Andromeda. The first one had been pretty straightforward: “If you lose, you have to kiss me.” But since he lost the first bet, he’d been trying to ‘play it cool’ by proposing bets that didn’t literally say Andromeda had to kiss him, but it was almost the same as if they had. Thus, ‘Rabastan keeps making stupid bets to try and kiss Andy’, was crossed off his bingo.

“What is that?” Now Regulus asked Sirius.

“It’s your list of possible Christmas presents. Mother told me to scratch off the ones I thought you wouldn’t like. So whenever you don’t mind your own business, I scratch one off so that later I can tell mother I think you’d be happier with socks.” Regulus got very angry.

“I don’t want socks for Christmas!” And another one off the bingo. Sirius scratched ‘Regulus believes obvious lie’ from it, and as tears began to stream from his eyes, ‘Regulus cries’ also went away. Bellatrix, who was sipping some tea trying to remain outside of the situation around her, seemed to have found something to comment on.

“I’m personally tired of getting diamonds for Christmas, it’s getting old.” Andromeda scratched ‘I’m tired of getting diamonds for Christmas’. She had put it just in case, and she couldn’t believe it had happened so soon. They made their way out of the dining room and towards the yard, so they could begin their Quidditch match. Andromeda, Rodolphus, and young Evan Rosier were playing as one team, while Malfoy, Rabastan, and Yaxley were playing for the opposing team. Naturally, Andromeda’s team won. Not only were Andromeda and Rodolphus good enough players to make up for Rosier’s inexperience, Malfoy and Yaxley were bad enough to drag Rabastan down with them. So Rabastan was pissed, Yaxley was pissed and, most importantly—because this meant to scratch another box off her bingo sheet—, Malfoy was pissed. He tried to get close to Narcissa to complain, but by now it was obvious to Andromeda that her strategy to get Lucius to a state of complete obsession with her was to ignore him. Andromeda laughed. Sirius, who’d been refereeing, was also having fun watching Malfoy get blown off by his cousin. Evan, on the other hand, was having the time of his life being praised by Rodolphus.

“You’re gonna be a great Quidditch player. You just might want to get sorted into the right house so that I can put you on the team.”

“Of course I’m gonna be sorted into Slytherin, Rodolphus.” Another square down for Sirius. At the end of the day, albeit Andromeda had gotten a lot in a row, it was Sirius who’d won, after Narcissa complained that they should be better off visiting the summer house in Majorca. But since they had not crossed off all the boxes in their bingoes, they decided to start again. It was surely making their days go by a lot faster.

Halfway through the holidays, Andromeda turned fourteen. She got presents from all the Prewetts (including Fabian: a couple of chocolate frogs and a mandarin duck quill), Rose, Juno, and even a book with Quidditch strategies and moves called _Be the Chaser, Don’t Get Chased_ from Fletcher, Slytherin’s team captain—she guessed he expected to use some of them in their upcoming season. During her birthday dinner, she won her current game of bingo against Sirius, and received several expensive presents from all the families who’d attended—the same whose children had been bothering her all summer—which consisted, almost exclusively, of jewellery. The only exception had been her uncle Alphard, who’d given her money, a delicately crafted belt with golden snakes for a buckle and what she later found waiting in her room: a set of ten bottles of nail polish. That night, after writing a thank you note to her uncle that she sent with Maia—she was sure that if she ever let it show how much she loved and enjoyed the time she spent with her uncle, she wouldn’t be allowed to visit him anymore—, Andromeda wished for the end of summer, so she could get back to Hogwarts as soon as possible.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you want to check out the full bingo sheets, visit this post: https://honeyed-hufflepuff.tumblr.com/post/179246585377/andy-and-sirius-play-house-of-black-holidays-bingo.


	19. exposure

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ted would've loved Legally Blonde if he'd lived to watch it.

Two weeks into the new school year, Podmore laughed in Ted Tonks’s face at dinner. Ted had expressed his desire to join the Quidditch team, at dinner. Podmore had thought it was all too funny that Tonks wanted a position that was already taken: his. Tonks shrugged.

“Sorry, mate, but I think I’d make a good keeper. It sounds like a fun position to play.”

“You think you’ll even make the replacement position? Playing in the Quidditch team isn’t just like you wake up one day and decide to play, Tonks.”

“What, like it’s hard?” He said, putting butter on another toast.

“Ted just wants to play so that he can see Black from up close during the games,” Demeter intervened, Ted smiled, amused.

“Of course not, Demie, let that go.”

“I’d be impressed if you made the team just to flirt,” Diggory commented from a few seats away, he was a chaser in the team. “I expect to see you at trials.”

“You’ll see me alright.” Podmore was agitated.

“This is serious, lads. You don’t flirt during Quidditch. Plus, Black is way off your league, Ted,” Diggory laughed.

“That is true, McGonagall will cut a class short before you get to date Black, Ted.”

“I think Ted has a real chance. I heard Prewett and Black broke up over an argument in which our very Ted Tonks was mentioned.”

“Who said that?” Podmore snorted. “I bet you it was Skeeter. You can’t trust a word that woman said. Last year spread a rumour that I couldn’t cast a simple wand-lighting charm.”

“You’re just angry at her because she told everyone who would listen when we were in first year that Black put you in your place for making fun of her.” Everybody snickered.

“That was fun to watch, she was pretty cool.” Ted admitted.

“Maddox telling you you don’t qualify for the team will be fun to watch,” Podmore replied.

During the trials, Ted caught every single shot Diggory, Winnie Rose, and Hazel Noel threw at him, and even caught the very pissed off shots that Podmore threw when Maddox, the team captain, informed him that he’d be playing as a replacement from now on, as Ted had taken his position. Demeter won two galleons from Diggory, who was not sad at all to pay them, excited at the prospect of a match against Slytherin with their new keeper.

“Beginning next week,” professor Dumbledore announced at dinner, “Madam Hypnos will begin a Healing course for all interested students of fourth year and above. The course is an excellent opportunity to take a look at healing magic for those who might want to specialise in it after their years at Hogwarts. The course will have a duration of five months and all of those who pass the final exam will receive a basic certification in Medical Aid, plus the chance to impress the Healers taking the exam, which might come in handy in future applications to Healer-Training Programmes. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity, organised entirely by and due to Madam Hypnos’s initiative.” He nodded in her direction in the staff table. “Please give her a warm applause for her hard-work and dedication.”

“It’s very difficult to become a Healer,” Juno observed. “You need Os or Es in all Potion, Herbology, Transfiguration, Defence Against the Dark Arts, and Charms’ N.E.W.T.s.”

“I’m still going to take the course,” Andromeda decided. “Even though I might not get a N.E.W.T. in Transfiguration and I don’t even expect an O.W.L. in Herbology.”

“You’re improved lots in Herbology, though,” Rose observed. “I’d say not to give up hope just yet.”

“Are any of you going to take the course?” Andromeda asked. Juno laughed.

“No, thank you. I know very well I’ll never qualify for a Healing career. I’d rather concentrate myself in the subjects I’ve already got, and trying to get listed as the official seeker for the team.”

“I will,” Rose said. “But aren’t you going to be a little busy if you take the course, Andy? Between the course and the Quidditch practices, you’ll get no breaks.”

“Well, it might be better that way, full-on concentration, might even help me get a rhythm that helps me study next year when we have to take our O.W.L.s.”

“Oh, don’t even mention those,” Juno said in dismay.

The first class of Healing was surprisingly much less crowded than Andromeda would’ve expected it to be. They were standing in an empty classroom set up like a smaller Hospital Ward—Madam Hypnos didn’t want them bothering the students that were in the actual ward. Andromeda and Rose stood looking around, they noticed there were no fifth or seventh years (probably preferred to use the time to study for their O.W.L.s and N.E.W.T.s), and there was an underwhelming number of students from sixth year. She was able to recognise Fuller, Gryffindor’s Quidditch captain; Zabini; and Lewis Fawcett, Ravenclaw’s other beater—Andromeda only knew Quidditch players. From their own year, there were very few students. Besides Rose and herself, there were only Dorcas and Diana from Gryffindor (“Hi there!”), Fate from Ravenclaw—who, soon enough, was standing beside them, whispering things to Rose—, and Ted Tonks. She waved at him, and when he caught her eye, he stepped closer.

“Didn’t think I’d find you here,” he confessed.

“What? I don’t strike you like the Healing type?”

“You’re terrible at Herbology,” Andromeda blushed at his bluntness.

“Well they didn’t ask for specific grades, did they? And I’ve made it to fourth year all the same. Also, I’ve been doing better.”

“That sounds like a worth-watching event. It’s a pity I have Herbology with Ravenclaw this year. I can’t bear witness to such an unprecedented occurrence.” Andromeda rolled her eyes but, before she could say anything, Madam Hypnos began addressing them.

“Well, it’s a much more numerous group than I expected.”  _ Really? _ Andromeda thought.  _ There are barely fifteen people here _ . “Well, please try and couple up within your own year, of course. If there’s an uneven number of people from one year, there may be just the one group of three. Now, quick!” Andromeda turned to Rose, but Fate was already clinging to her. Rose smiled apologetically. Dorcas and Diana had not even bothered to look around.

“Guess you’re stuck with me,” Tonks said.

“More like you’re stuck with me, the one who’s terrible at Herbology.” Tonks snorted.

“I’m sure you’ll be able to keep up.” Turns out, the both of them were stunned when they realised just how much they would have to study to keep up.

“This is an intensive course,” Madam Hypnos said while handing them thick volumes of Magical Anatomy. “Although the procedures you’ll be learning can be perceived as fairly simple, there is an enormous amount of theory that needs to be learnt by heart before attempting any of them.” Andromeda and Tonks looked at each other, panicked expressions on their faces. “I trust you to have studied chapters one through five for our next lesson. During this first lesson, we’ll practise things that are basic and do not require magic, such as bandages, slings, splints, and the like. The knowledge you’ll acquire during this course will help you assist fellow wizards and witches in a first instance, and sometimes helping means simply making sure things do not get worse before a professional can take care of the problem.” She told them to use a stretcher per couple as a working station and, after showing with a mannequin what they were supposed to do, they set off to work.

“You can bandage me first,” Tonks offered, sitting on the stretcher.

“I don’t know if you’re being nice or if you just want to learn from my mistakes.”

“That’s part of my charm.” Andromeda began measuring the amount of bandage she’d need, and added a few centimetres, just in case.

“This course seems like it will take much more work than I had foreseen.”

“No kidding, I’m starting to regret my decision of entering the team. I didn’t know that this would take so much time off my hands.”

“You joined your Quidditch team?”

“Yeah, thought it would be fun.”

“What position will you be playing?”

“I don’t discuss Quidditch practice with people from other houses, Black.” She lifted an eyebrow, curious but respecting his decision at the same time. She had the same policy, after all.

“How wise of you.” She held the bandage with both hands. “Extend your arm, yeah, like that.” She began bandaging it, as if he had a nasty cut, which meant she had to apply pressure and ensure the bandage was tight. “Just tell me if I start cutting off your circulation.” Tonks chuckled.

“You’re doing fine, Black.” She was being very careful. Her fingers and hand moved around expertly. She might have been bad at Herbology, but she was skilfull, Tonks thought.

“Tonks, we’re going to be spending a long time running practical lessons on each other. If there’s any chance you’ll give me a cut instead of healing one at some point, I’d rather you’d call me by my name.” He flushed.

“Oh, certainly. You just kept calling me Tonks, so I thought—nevermind. You may call me Ted, then.”

“Does anybody call you Edward at all?” He made a face.

“It sounds so stern. Edward sounds like a lad that can’t stand a joke and only wears black,” Andromeda laughed.

“Yeah, it doesn’t suit you.”

“Shall I just call you Andy like everybody does?” She made a final knot, looking satisfied with her work.

“Andy, or Andromeda, however you prefer. I don’t mind either. My sisters call me Dromeda, that is nasty.” She stood up, took a seat beside him on the stretcher, and held out her arm. “Your turn.” Ted jumped off the stretcher and took the bandage on his hands, getting himself to work immediately, not bothering to measure the bandage beforehand. “You’re supposed to measure it, you know?” His hands were big and warm and slightly rough to the touch, but they wrapped the bandage around her arm with unexpected gentleness.

“I know, but this way is quicker, and that way I just cut it when I’m done and there’ll be less waste.”  _ That’s just messier _ , Andromeda thought. “What are you talking about? Dromeda is cute.”

“You’re only saying that to annoy me.”

“I mean it.” Maybe it was the pressure he was applying with the bandage on her arm, or his hands working carefully on it. Maybe it was his gentle warm eyes, full of a sincerity that was scary. Either way, she was surprised to hear herself allowing it.

“Have it your way, then.” Madam Hypnos, who showed up to assess their work, nodded approvingly. Tonks cut the bandage and smiled.

“We’re all set, Dromeda.”


	20. cannot get past him

Reading her volume of Magical Anatomy in the Common Room, Andromeda soon found out that studying for Healing would be a full-time job, so whenever she wasn’t doing anything else, or studying for anything else, she was nose-deep in the book, taking notes on a piece of parchment, and hoping that would be enough to somehow memorise every single word in it. Rose looked like she was going to have a meltdown, she was studying twice as hard as Andromeda, and Andromeda tried not to look at her too much, because it made her feel like she wasn’t studying enough. She was doing what she could with what little time she had. Fletcher had been unwavering in his determination to make them all hate Quidditch. Not that they would ever hate it, but that didn’t seem to make Fletcher stop trying. They had been training almost every day of the week, because apparently he’d taken it as a personal offence that Gryffindor had taken home the Quidditch Cup the previous year. As the weather worsened, the longer he seemed to want to train, and Andromeda wondered if there was a way you could get soaked to your bones because she definitely felt like she was after each practice.

One evening, when she was entering the Great Hall for dinner, she saw Gideon waving at her. She walked up to the Gryffindor table, where Fabian was sitting as well. He was getting taller by the second, Andromeda thought, as he was towering a whole head above her, and Gideon looked like his bones ached to catch up to his brother as soon as possible. Height differences aside, she was surprised to see that they still looked as similar as ever, although she’d known them for so long, that she’d be able to tell them apart even if they wore the same uniform and they were the same height. There was something more mature about Fabian’s ways and mannerisms, and his face was always more gentle and pensive than Gideon’s. Gideon was just… intensely warm, restless, and funny, and it came out of his every pore. His face had always a mischievous edge to his expressions, and his lips were always at least slightly tingly, like he had just finished laughing at something. Andromeda felt very warm, as she took in Gideon’s demeanour, and sat next to him so he could talk to her. She loved him, like he was her brother, like he was blood of her blood, and it was so comforting to have him love her just as much.

“Andy, you’ll never believe this.” Molly, who was sitting across from them, covered her face, which was slightly flushed. Fabian giggled, and Andromeda felt glad that their time together had not stood in between them, and they could still all talk like this. A blue prefect pin shone on his chest.

“It is a great story indeed, Andy,” Fabian agreed.

“So guess who wandered around the castle last night past 4 am, and was told off by  _ the Fat Lady _ .” Andromeda looked at Molly again, who seemed to want to disappear. She finally took her hands off her face, and giggled along, resigned to the teasing that her misbehaviour would ensue.

“It was most incredible,” Molly confessed. “I didn’t think she had it in her, all these years, people coming and going at whatever hours, losing us points like it’s no big deal, and the Fat Lady never seemed to care.”

“You talk about losing points? Guess who caught Arthur, Andy.”

“Pringle,” she guessed.

“Pringle indeed, and on top of detention, my dear brother Arthur has lost us twenty points in just the one night.”

“Molly, you aren’t setting a good example for Gid and I. How are we supposed to behave when you and your boyfriend are out so late, hiding in some dark corridor trying to feel each other?” Molly turned furiously red.

“Fabian, what way is that to address your older sister? We were not doing nothing of the sort, we were just strolling around and it got late.” They all laughed, it was hard to believe her when her cheeks were as red as they were.

“We’ve all learnt the lesson, though,” Gideon said, dead serious. “We cannot get caught.” They laughed again.

 

It was Potions with Hufflepuff, and professor Slughorn seemed to have a couple new ideas for the class’s methodology. He had announced they would begin working on antidotes when he saw them team up in their usual trios. He shook his head.

“No, no, no. That won’t do. I need you to work in pairs, and none of that ‘I only work with people from my house nonsense’.” He saw them standing confusedly, not knowing who to pair up with. The most of Slytherin was not in the best of terms with Hufflepuff. “Oh, for Merlin’s sake. Here, I’ll make the pairs.” He got to Amycus. “You, pair up with Podmore.” He pointed to Juno, “and you with miss Jones. I have to warn you, you must learn to work even with the people you don’t like. You’ll find that in life it’ll be more often that you have work and do well with people you dislike than people you like.” That’s more like it. He pointed to Andromeda. “Miss Black I think you’ll do well with... ah, yes, most definitely, I’m sure Tonks over there could use your help.” She looked across the room and met Ted’s gaze. He shrugged, like saying ‘I didn’t ask him to pair us up’.

But halfway through the lesson it became very clear why professor Slughorn had set them up. Ted was a flying mess. He left stuff everywhere and he didn’t clean the utensils right after using them, and sometimes poured ingredients into vials that were still dirty with others. Andromeda was going nuts. She could not understand how patient, careful, hard-working Ted could create such chaos.

“You have the to squeeze it, not smash it,” she warned him, as he tried to squeeze a piece of ginger root in the mortar. “Seriously, how on Earth did you make it to fourth year?” Andromeda was not the only one who was taken by surprise. Ted had difficulty making sense of the fact that the driven, smart, caring Andromeda was the same girl who was now telling him that there was a difference between mincing and chopping, and was giving him hell for not keeping a clean work station. “You had a lot of nerve to imply I shouldn’t have taken the Healing Course because I’m bad at Herbology. Look at this mess. I’m gonna kill you, Ted Tonks.”

“My potions turn out just fine,” he shrugged. Andromeda had the strong suspicion that whoever had been teaming up with Ted so far, were putting out Ted’s fires as soon as he started them, so he wouldn’t notice. “Also, I’d very much like to live if possible, Dromeda. I have plans, you know?” Her eyes went wide as she saw him stirring in any direction instead of counter-clockwise, she took the ladle from him and did it herself.

“Plans like what? Killing people with poorly brewed antidotes?”

“Plans like a nice house with a cosy fireplace, a big backyard, three children, and a dog.” Andromeda looked at him like he was mad.

“If this is how you conceive tidiness, I doubt you can ever manage to have a ‘nice’ house.” She pictured the rest, it sounded oddly specific and muggle-ish. “Also why three children and a dog?”

“I don’t know, sounds nice.”

“No woman in her right mind would have three children and a dog with you if she knows this what she has to look forward to,” she gestured at their working station.

“Well then I’ll just have to make sure she’s never taken Potions with me,” he shrugged.

 

It was a cold morning when Andromeda stepped into the Quidditch pitch with the Slytherin team for the second game of the season, against Hufflepuff. Ravenclaw had flattened Gryffindor in the first game, making everyone feel in better spirits, now that the defending champion had been defeated. Skeeter was narrating the match, as always, and professor McGonagall was refereeing.

“Hey Black,” Rabastan said before the match began. “Watch me catch that snitch.” Rabastan, however, did no such thing. Andromeda spotted Ted among the Hufflepuff players and nodded. He beamed, clearly proud to be playing for his house. The match lasted two full days and it was the most incredible and terrible thing Andromeda had ever experienced. The weather had been nice for the first hour or so, cloudy and a ray of sunshine here and there. By the second hour, however, it had started pouring—it didn’t let on. Soaked as she had decided to take a swim fully-clothed in the lake, Andromeda, Fletcher, and Zabini found themselves against an unforeseen adversary: Ted. Andromeda couldn’t believe her eyes when they took off and Ted had taken what, up until then, had been Podmore’s position. They had been practising for Podmore, they knew nothing about Ted as a keeper, nothing at all. What was worse, surprise surprise, was that Ted was an awesome keeper, much to Andromeda’s admiration and dismay. She could not, for the life of her, get past him. Thankfully, Fletcher and Zabini seemed to be having the same problem, as neither of them had been able to score. They had no trouble getting the quaffle from Diggory, Noel, or Rose, but when they got to the hoops, it was a frustrating hell. Specially because Ted kept saying things like “whoops”, “almost had it”, and “I’m sure you’ll get it next time” in a tone that was clearly sarcasm-free, and the fact that he didn’t intend at all to mock them made it even more infuriating. Juno and Rabastan kept taking turns to fly and try to spot the snitch, and the more sleepless he became, the more scary Fletcher became. At lunchtime on the second day, he even yelled to Fox, Hufflepuff’s seeker.

“For the love of Merlin, Isabel, if my good-for-nothing seekers can’t spot the bloody snitch, could you please just take the bloody thing and end my misery?!” It would have been funny had they not be exhausted past the point of sanity. Fletcher kept muttering he was going to cast the entirety of Slytherin house as back-ups, and it was only by the second day’s afternoon that they were able to score a few points, Ted being so tired it was hard for him to keep his spotless record. He couldn’t even say “oh, that was a good one” when Fletcher finally scored, nor congratulate Zabini when he scored a few minutes later. It was almost dinner-time when Fox spotted the snitch, and Andromeda felt a rush of energy and a window of opportunity in the chaos of the general excitement for the match to finally end. She got closer to the hoops and she scored with rage, the third time she did, but the first one that felt truly because of her merit, not because Ted was tired or she was tired or everyone was trying to keep their eyes open. Hufflepuff had won two hundred and fifty to sixty, and everyone was too tired to feel bad about it. Andromeda had almost fallen asleep in the shower, and by the time she made it to the castle, Andromeda was too tired even to have dinner, so she just went straight to her dormitory and fell flat on the bed.


	21. colour changing

“Do you like cats?” Andromeda said as they began practising charms to make small scars and cuts disappear. “Or are you strictly a dog-person?”

“I like all animals,” Ted replied. “My mother likes animals a lot, she was always bringing home stray, abandoned, or hurt animals. My father is a vet, so she would bring them home and he would nurse them to a state where people might adopt them. But we still had two or three pets that were ours all the time.”

“What is a vet? We still haven’t covered muggle jobs in Muggle Studies.”

“It’s like a muggle Healer, but for animals.” Andromeda nodded.

“How was it like, growing up in a muggle family, not knowing you were a wizard?” Ted smiled fondly, the way he did whenever he thought of his family. Andromeda first poked her finger with a needle, and then held it out so Ted could stop the bleeding.

“It was awesome. I feel like I got the best of both worlds. My parents are amazing, and I had a really good time at school. The weird things that would happen, everybody just thought they were funny. Once I got in trouble because mum had brought home a small dog and I really wanted to keep him, but we already had two dogs and a cat, and my dad said it was going to get too crowded. So they gave him away, but the dog showed up inside our home the next day. And we kept giving the dog away and the dog kept showing back in our home. My parents thought I was sneaking out at night to get the dog, but I knew I hadn’t and I thought the dog had memorised the way back home and kept breaking out of whatever homes we sent him to. Eventually we kept him. His name was Nuzzle.” That was a cute story. She didn’t have any stories of that kind. She was about to tell him how the first time she did magic she had blown aunt Walburga’s nose to twice its size, which she had gotten away with only because she was still a toddler, when she noticed something odd.

“Ted, your eyes!” He seemed confused, also self-conscious.

“What about them?”

“They are blue!”

“Oh, yeah.” His totally calm reaction confused her, as she probed and checked her finger to make sure Ted’s spell had worked and it had fully healed.

“Aren’t they usually brown?” She said and, as she did, his eyes went from blue to green, gradually.

“Yeah, they change colour sometimes, I don’t know why. They just do. It’s not very often, though.” They were going from green to hazel, when he poked his finger with a needle.

“But we studied metamorphmagi in Transfiguration, are you sure you’re not one?”

“No, no. Metamorphmagi can change their appearance at will, I can’t do that. My eyes just do the thing on their own every now and then. Plus, it’s just my eyes, I’ve never seen my hair or my features change in any way. Also, I don’t think there’s ever been record of a muggleborn metamorphmagus.” Andromeda nodded. “Anyway, tell me about your family, for a change.”

“There’s not much to tell,” Andromeda sighed. “Here’s a summary for you: everybody sucks. Of course I care about my family, but that does not stop me from realising they are wrong about almost everything.”

“Oh, come on, they can’t be all bad, can they?”

“You’re right. Uncle Alphard is great, and I think Sirius is immune to all of my family’s nonsense, so at least someone will still talk to me if I ever get blasted off the tapestry.” Ted seemed alarmed.

“Blasted off?”

“Oh, there’s this tapestry at aunt Walburga’s with the House of Black’s family tree, and here and there there are black scorch marks where there used to be family members that did something that, according to my family, was worthy of being disowned.”

“Whoa, that seems intense. What can get you blasted off?”

“Anything from marrying a muggleborn or a blood traitor to being born a squib. No one is safe. It’s a wonder really how there’re not more scorch marks on that tapestry. If they saw me here, being nice to you, they’d probably tell me not to bother to go home for the summer.” Ted seemed very grave when he looked at her.

“Look, I don’t want to put you in trouble—” Andromeda laughed.

“You’re not putting me in any trouble. Ultimately, talking to you is my decision. And ever since second year, I like to be doing at least two things mother wouldn’t approve of at all times. So you’re helping me, really.”

“What else are you doing right now?” She wiggled her fingers, showing off her nail polish.

“Mother would faint if she saw this muggle thing on my nails.” Ted smiled.

“Hey, that’s the first time in a long time I’ve seen nail polish. How did you get it?” He felt it dawn on him, and his face clearly showed it. “Oh. So it was you at the record store!”

“And it was you!”

“You listen to muggle music?”

“Yeah—”

“I love The Who.” They said in unison. They kept working, smiling coyly and muttering some of their songs as they did.

For all the fun they had together in Healing, Andromeda wanted to make her family proud and kill Ted whenever she had Potions. It was torture, simply torture, watching Ted make a mess of their work station.

“Look, Ted. If you want me not to lose my shit and jinx you, you have to stir more carefully. Otherwise, you might kill us both before I get to kill you, if the cauldron explodes.” Ted looked at her, annoyed.

“Then show me how to do it! I’m tired of you taking over and doing it like I’m an idiot who can’t be taught.” Andromeda sighed. She put her hand on Ted’s hand, the one holding the ladle, and held it firmly, making sure she was setting the motion and pace of the stirring. “Like that, you see how it becomes royal blue and not purple?” Ted understood what she meant. At last she understood why she’d been so annoying.

“Dromeda…” Andromeda looked at him.

“What?”

“You can let go now.” He said, gesturing her hand. She blushed and took it away.

“Sorry, I got distracted watching the potion.” Ted was doing quite well, in spite of his mess. Maybe it was true that the potions somehow came out rather well for him.

 

“Andy.” Gideon called at Andromeda, after their Defence Against the Dark Arts lesson. “Oi, Andy.” Andromeda looked back, and saw Gideon smiling at her. “Walk with me, Andy, you’ve got no more classes after this, do you?” Andromeda nodded.

“I feel like I barely see you anymore.”

“You are one to talk, whenever I see you you’re busy with Quidditch or studying for Healing or flirting with Ted. What a way to neglect your best friend.” Andromeda blushed.

“I do not flirt with Ted.” Gideon rolled his eyes.

“Sure, whatever. Just like I didn’t kiss Podmore in the Quidditch changing rooms yesterday.”

“You did what?” His cheeks and ears flushed and he scratched his head.

“We were just talking and then we were kissing.”

“Do you like Podmore?”

“I don’t know, but the kiss was very hot.”

“Well, then, I’m happy for you.”

“Really? Doesn’t your family have backwards views on this as well?”

“Well, I suppose they might frown upon me not marrying someone who I can have a pureblood offspring with… but I don’t see how that affects you.” Gideon sighed in relief. “What? You really thought I was gonna have some problem with you making out with anyone?” Andromeda chuckled. “Just make sure the Fat Lady doesn’t catch you getting back past 4 am.” Gideon snorted.

“You got me there.”


	22. go out with me

It wasn’t long before Andromeda and Ted had reached the end of the Healing Course, which also meant undergoing the finals to get the certification. Against all their expectations, they had handled the course extremely well, and Madam Hypnos had congratulated them for doing an excellent job. They were among the favourites to obtain the certification, Madam Hypnos told them to make her proud. It was bittersweet, to end the course, as Andromeda had grown quite used to hanging out with Ted, looking for old scars to heal with charms. Andromeda sat during the exam for what felt like hours, and she left feeling like she’d blown it. The practical exam, to be held later that day, was the only way she could make up for it, if she’d failed the written one.

She was sitting in the hallway, contemplating her existence. A few days before, Bellatrix had received a letter at breakfast. The conversation that occurred later that day, after dinner, had not been a happy one. Bellatrix had come up to her, dragging Narcissa, who clearly looked like she had better things to do.

“I’m engaged,” she said, holding up her hand, so they could see a ring with a big diamond on it.

“It’s not that big,” Narcissa observed, and Andromeda looked at her like she was mad.

“You’re  _ sixteen _ , who are you gonna marry?”

“Rodolphus. You know, our parents were going to set up a marriage for me if I hadn’t engaged before starting seventh year. And I’d rather marry Rodolphus than some stranger. Don’t be naive, Dromeda, I’m not getting married tomorrow. I reckon I may be engaged for years before I actually marry.” Andromeda felt like dying.

“That was for real? I thought mother was making a bad joke!”

“Mother never jokes,” Narcissa pointed out. She was right.

“I don’t want to marry some fanatic idiot.”

“Relax,” Bellatrix said. “You’ll probably be betrothed to Rabastan, it only makes sense. You used to fancy him, did you not? And I hear he still fancies you.” Andromeda’s eyes almost went out of her sockets.

“How is he not a fanatic idiot? I also used to listen to you, Trixie, and look at me now.”

_ Yeah, look at me now _ , she thought, sitting in the corridor. She was enraged, and she was miserable. She felt like crying, she didn’t want to marry Rabastan. She didn’t want to raise pureblood children under her mother’s watch. She didn’t want to use expensive and heavy jewellery and listen to her family rant hate-speech every single Christmas, New Year’s, and birthdays. She made a mental note to sign up to stay over the Christmas holidays. She wasn’t going to go back home to celebrate Bellatrix’s engagement.

“You look sad.” Ted’s voice made her look up. “What’s the matter? Did you do so bad?”

“Yeah. I mean, I don’t know. My sister is engaged.”

“But she’s  _ sixteen _ .”

“That’s what I said!” She said, clearly overridden with anguish. Ted sat next to her and hugged her, stroking her back in a comforting manner.

“It’s going to be alright,” he said, not sure it really was going to be alright. He’d never seen Andromeda so worried.

“It’s not going to be alright. I’m going to make it to seventh year without a fiancé, and they will arrange a marriage for me, and I will have to choose between marrying Rabastan or getting blasted off the tapestry and I’ll be miserable and I will have no family because there’s no way in hell I’m marrying Rabastan.”

“You’re spiraling, Dromeda. I’m sure you’ll figure it out.” He said, as he felt her tremble in his arms. She was crying. Shushing softly, he stroke her hair. Ted realised two things, sitting there on the floor in that empty corridor after the written examination for their Magical Aid Certification. The first one, was that Andromeda was not the absolutely independent, ‘I don’t care at all what my family thinks’, unwavering person he’d thought she was. Andromeda clearly needed someone to depend on every now and then, in private, where people wouldn’t see. The second one was that, in spite of what he’d been telling Demie for the longest time, he liked Andromeda. He liked Andromeda so much he even liked the way she bossed him around in Potions class, or the fury and frustration there had been in her eyes when he wouldn’t let her score in Quidditch. He liked her nails with nail polish and how they scattered around when she was practising bandages and splints on him. Her brown eyes, even when they threatened to kill him if he didn’t rinse the vials after each use. He liked her so much and admitting it to himself was tragic, because as he took the feeling in, as he felt her crying in his arms, he also realised that she’d never be able to go out with him, not without causing her a great deal of pain.

In the end, both got their Magical Aid Certification with flying colours, and all the examiners had nothing but praise for their Healing abilities during the practical exam. Ted never mentioned what had happened in that corridor and neither did Andromeda, so he thought it best to keep it a secret. Problem was, he couldn’t get her out of his head. He knew, rationally, that the possibility of the two of them being together was, mildly put, nonexistent. But he still wanted to try.

It was not up to Ted, however, and this he realised as the year went by, without Andromeda attempting anything that could have been interpreted by him as romantic interest. He saw less of her after the Healing Course had ended, so he came to relish every single second they were tied up in Potions. Andromeda was telling him off about something he’d done wrong. He was staring at her pretty, pretty eyes. She had the prettiest eyes.

“Are you even listening to me?” Andromeda said, exasperated.

“No.” Andromeda could’ve evaporated him, with the look she shot him.

“I’m done, I’m through.”

“You’re looking nice today, Dromeda.” She flushed.

“What are you talking about?”

“You’re looking very nice today, that’s all.” He said, very matter-of-factly. He was growing tired of hiding the way he felt about her. Maybe he couldn’t go out with her, but he could tell her she looked beautiful.

“Um, thanks?” When the class was over, professor Slughorn called Andromeda over to his desk. She approached, worried Ted’s poor work during class had reflected badly on her. Slughorn handed her an envelope and winked.

“I trust you’ll be able to find a partner to bring with you.” Andromeda looked at the invitation she held in her hands. It was almost the end of the year. She had forgotten all about the Slug Club.

“I’m so flattered, professor.” She said. “I don’t understand, though. My sister was never invited.” Professor Slughorn waited a second to reply, as if he were choosing his words.

“Miss Bellatrix is a bit… reckless, and temperamental. I’m afraid those are not the qualities I am looking for in my guests. You, however, have been patient enough to teach Tonks, in spite of his work ways being pretty much the opposite of yours. You’re talented and you come from a very distinguished family of wizards, miss Black. It would not do to have a dinner party without your presence.” She thanked him again and left the classroom, only to find Tonks waiting for her outside.

“I’m sorry, did I get you in trouble?” He asked as soon as he saw her, and she smirked.

“Say, Tonks, do you have party clothes?”

“Yes?” He said, confused.

“Would you care to help me do something that would make mother angry if she knew, on Friday night?”

“Sure.”

“I’ll pick you up at eight outside of your common room, it’s too risky if you come find me. Don’t be late.”

“Alright. How do you know where my common room is? Also, Dromeda, what are you talking about?”

“Every Slytherin knows, mostly to stay as far as possible.” She shrugged. “I’m talking about the Slug Club, Ted. You’re coming with me.”

 

Friday could have not come soon enough, whenever Ted saw Dromeda in the hallways, he could not help but smile. He knew better than to talk casually to her, but his skin itched to get closer to her, and made him question the unspoken rule of not talking to Andromeda outside of class. Alas, Friday night came at last. He looked on the mirror, styling his hair.  _ Very dapper _ , he thought. Andromeda put on her favourite emerald earrings and a matching pendant hung from her silver necklace. A bracelet in the form of a snake crawled up her right wrist. Her dress was deep green, and it looked expensive yet casual. She let her hair hang loose, after debating between a thousand hairstyles. She felt stupid, she’d never been this nervous before. It was only a stupid dinner party with dear old Ted. Who cared if she was looking pretty?

“Where are you going?” Bellatrix asked, when she saw her step into the common room all dressed up.

“Slug Club.”

“You got invited?” She narrowed her eyes, disguising her hurt ego.

“Finally did something good for the name of the family.”

“Shocking, right?” Juno and Rose stepped right behind her. Juno had been invited because she was a sick Quidditch player, Rose because she was a Potion-making genius. They nodded in Bellatrix’s direction, and all three of them made their way out of the common room. The dungeons looked dark and cold. Andromeda bid her friends goodbye, she had to go look for her date, and they had to wait for theirs. Dedalus was Juno’s plus one, and she looked forward to learning who was Rose’s—she wouldn’t say. Andromeda climbed the stairs up to the basement and then walked the hallways until she saw Ted, in a blue button down shirt, waiting with his back against the wall.

“I’m sorry I’m late, it took me longer than expected to get ready.” Ted lifted his gaze from the floor, only to find a scene that looked like he had dreamt it. Andromeda stood in a green dress, middle length, cinched at the waist. It had green lace on the shoulders, and he could bet it had an open back. She looked too beautiful to be real.

“It was totally worth it, you look amazing.” Andromeda smiled, surprised to feel relief. She didn’t need Ted’s confirmation to feel beautiful, she reminded herself.

“You don’t look too bad yourself.” She said, as she gestured to him to begin making their way towards the party. He did not forget to check when she turned around and, yes, the dress did have an open back. Andromeda’s skin looked like smooth marble where her back was exposed. Ted felt his heart skip a beat.

“Thanks.”

“You know why asked you to the party?” Ted perked up immediately, expectantly.

“Not really.”

“Slughorn told me he had paired us up to test my patience. And I passed so, in a way, I’m invited because of you. Thought I owed it to you to take you with me.” Ted chuckled, trying not to look disappointed.

“Don’t you care what people will say when you show up with a muggleborn?” She looked down.

“I don’t want to think about that. I want to spend a night not having to think I’m a Black. Can you help me with that?” He smiled reassuringly.

“Of course, Dromeda.” Slughorn greeted them warmly, and they soon realised that most people weren’t really paying attention to the other students there. They all wanted to talk to Slughorn’s guests, that ranged everywhere from a Veela to former Quidditch stars. Andromeda’s eyes scattered around looking for Rose. She found her talking coyly but happily with Fate. Andromeda arched an eyebrow, and decided to ask later. After that, Ted and Andromeda didn’t pay any attention to what was going on around them. They couldn’t take their eyes off each other. In the middle of one of Andromeda’s stories, Ted cracked up.

“You’re telling me you taught your four-year old cousin to call his own parents ‘booger’ and ‘dud’?”

“He still does... under his breath.” She shrugged.

“Is Sirius the only one you have fun with?”

“Well, I don’t mind playing the piano at my uncle’s, or playing Wizard’s Chess with him. He’s pretty cool. He’s also very lonely. I wonder why he never married, he doesn’t strike me as the kind of person that didn’t really click with anyone.”

“Maybe he fell for the wrong person.” Andromeda stayed silent for a second, feeling her chest tighten.

“Maybe,” she sighed. “Anyway, last summer, Sirius and I made a bingo to pass the time,” she smirked. “It made everything much more bearable. Even my birthday.”

“Your birthday is during summer holidays?”

“Yeah, 2 August. When is yours?”

“Oh, it was this past 13 April.”

“I didn’t wish you a happy birthday! I owe you a present.”

“It’s okay. The book you got me for Christmas is more than enough.” Andromeda smiled. She’d given Ted a quick guide to easy Healing charms called  _ Break Bandage-Free _ . She lifted her hair off her ear so he could see.

“I’m wearing the earrings you gave me.” Higher up from the emerald pendant, two small hoops pierced her helix. “I got to use the Healing Charms we learnt.” Ted was surprised.

“Those were normal earrings, you know. You didn’t have to get piercings to wear them.”

“Oh.” Andromeda felt suddenly stupid, and ended up laughing. “Oh Merlin, I must look like such a dumb rich girl right now. ‘I’d never seen earrings that small before!’ Not that I don’t love them, I do.” She mocked herself, and Ted laughed with her. “Well, they look cool, don’t they?”

“They do.” She looked around, everyone was caught up in deep conversation.

“Hey, Ted?”

“What?”

“Wanna get out of here?”

“Where to?”

“I don’t know. Why don’t you surprise me?” They sneaked out of the party, and when Ted kept looking over his shoulder to make sure she was following him, she caught his hand in hers, making him blush. He took her down to the basement.

“This hallways leads to the kitchens. No one comes this way after dark.”

“And how do you know that?” He blushed.

“I forgot how to get into the common room in first year and I stayed out until very very late, waiting for one of the prefects to finish their rounds, and during that time I noticed no one coming or going.” She smiled, thinking of small first year Ted, waiting outside his common room. They sat on the floor, their hands still together.

“When was your first kiss?” Andromeda asked. Ted looked into her eyes. They were trapping, like a black hole, and they shone like a constellation. He thought about it for a second.

“The summer before first year. One of my classmates from muggle school heard I was going to a boarding school and came to say goodbye. I was so surprised she’d kissed me, I forgot to say goodbye before shutting the door.”

“Did you like her?”

“She was nice, but I was coming to Hogwarts, didn’t make much sense to try and keep in touch if I had to lie to her all the time.”

“That was very mature of you.”

“What about you?” Andromeda blushed violently.

“Summer after first year. A muggle boy kissed me in a record shop in Clevedon.” She frowned. “He was awfully rude.” Ted grinned.

“Even wizard boys are rude at twelve.”

“Not you, I imagine.”

“Not me.” They were speaking very low, in soft whispers. Andromeda felt the evening might come to an end if she spoke too loud. Ted didn’t want her to go away.

“Ted? Do you know what else would make my mother very disappointed if she knew?” He looked at her, she seemed dead serious.

“I thought we were pretending you’re not a Black.”

“I can’t pretend forever. And I don’t think I’m gonna feel any different in the morning.”

“Different about what?” Andromeda held his hand tightly in hers, and leaned forward. Her lips touched Ted’s slowly, tentatively. When she pulled back, she looked into his eyes, waiting for surprise or reject. Ted said nothing, he pulled her close and kissed her. He held her shoulders, and deepened the kiss. Andromeda felt her heart racing. This was something different. Kissing Ted was thrilling, scary, but exhilarating. Their lips parted and he ran his fingers through her hair, and pulled her into a hug, similar to the one they’d shared after the Magical Aid written exam. Except they felt immensely different. They were warm and agitated. Andromeda reckoned it was nothing like she’d ever experienced before. Her skin tingled when Ted stroke her cheeks. She thought she could die in that hallway, she didn’t need anything else. She also thought she was going crazy. She was fourteen and surely there was nothing certain or sure-footed about starting a relationship with a muggleborn or feeling the way she did. Between Ted’s arms, however, the rest of the world seemed to fade, it was like nothing could ever get to them. She hadn’t realised she liked him so much. It had built up inside her without her noticing, like something leaking out of a cauldron when one wasn’t paying attention.

“I’m scared, Ted.” She confessed.

“We have three years before we have to worry about them. We can figure something out.”

“What if they try to hurt you?” It was a heavy burden to put on teenagers, the notion that their love could kill them. Made everything much more serious, much more trascendental.

“We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it.” It made them grow up too fast.

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“It’s a muggle saying. It means we’ll worry about that if that happens.” It made them care too intensely, too recklessly.

“I’m sorry, Ted.”

“What for?”

“I think I like you, too much for your own good.” He grinned, there was nothing about that phrase that scared him in any way, when it should have.

“I guess I’m stuck with you.”


	23. muggle date

They were not officially dating but, whenever they could, they would sneak into an empty classroom or deserted hallway to make out. The thrill she felt when she was with Ted was something she looked forward to all day. Since she didn’t want the last day at the castle to arrive, it came around much, much faster. She could not believe how many things had changed that year. The day after the party, Andromeda learnt from Rose that she liked Fate, they weren’t dating yet, but Rose had her hopes up. They would make a cute couple, Andromeda thought. They could conquer the world with perfect potions and settle down with millions of galleons in profits. The end-of-year party was more crowded, less sunny—they had to celebrate it in an empty classroom in the dungeons so that Ted could go and Andy wouldn’t get in trouble—, and also much more bittersweet than previous years, given that Molly and Arthur were graduating. Along with Ted, who was introduced as a friend, Page Podmore was the other new addition to the party crew. Although it raised some eyebrows, nobody questioned his presence. Andromeda didn’t know whether it was supposed to be a secret—her make-out escapades with Ted certainly were—so she acted like Podmore was a lifelong friend and there was no reason why he shouldn’t be there.

On the train, Andromeda felt like every second closer back to Black Garden was a torture. She’d managed to sneak into an empty compartment with Ted at the very end of the train, and had tinted the glass black so they could have some privacy.

“You better write to me, Ted Tonks. If I get word that you weren’t sighing for me all summer long, you’ll regret it.”

“Why don’t you visit for a couple days? I’m sure you can lie around it.” She shook her head.

“I can’t. My parents have been having all these weird meetings and Black Garden has become pureblood central. I can’t leave. I can only go to visit uncle Alphard, and he won’t let me visit you either, he says it’s better to stay inside. There’s something weird going on in the Wizarding World, Ted. I don’t know what it is, but in any case, be careful.”

“That sucks. I can’t believe I won’t see you for two months.”

“You better not see some muggle girl instead.”

“You nuts? I am very much aware that I would not live to tell the tale.” She grinned.

“Good boy.”

“And the only girl I want to see is you.”

Maia had a very busy summer. She went back and forth delivering Ted’s letters. Whenever someone wanted to read them over Andromeda’s shoulder, they would only see a letter from Rose or Juno. Ted had bewitched them so that nobody else could read them. _Clever boy_ , Andromeda thought. Still, everybody in pureblood central—specially Rabastan—thought Andromeda’s sudden burst of correspondence was curious, but since they couldn’t prove it wasn’t Juno or Rose writing to her, they just had to assume they were having extremely exciting holidays that they had to constantly tell Andromeda about. Sirius, naturally, was in on Andromeda’s secret. Now eight, and knowing about his cousin’s secret sort of boyfriend, Sirius was unstoppable when it came to shut down their spoiled fanatic relatives and guests.

“Andromeda, what news do you have from Conrad this time? Or is it McLean?” Rabastan asked, one afternoon, when she was sitting sipping some tea with Sirius.

“Back off, Lestrange. Nobody wants you nosing around.”

“Now, now, Sirius, no need to be so rude to Rabastan.” Andromeda said with a mischievous grin. “Rabastan, would you care for a cup of tea?” Rabastan thought he had finally chosen the right day to talk to Andromeda, and sat quite content with his cup of tea, while Andromeda kept reading her letter in silence. Ted was updating her as usual.

 

> Dear Dromeda,
> 
> Mum made homemade lasagna last weekend and it was delicious. Make sure to remind me to cook some for you at the castle. The kitchens seem like a good hangout place, I can’t believe I never thought about them before. Also, I forgot to ask on the train, is it chill if I tell my parents about you? They’ve seen me writing a letter almost every other day, and they have many questions. They have zero contact with the Wizarding Community, I’m sure they wouldn’t be able to tell a soul. By the way, can I send you a gift for your birthday or will that be too risky? I was thinking that, just maybe, I could give it to you in person. I have to go to London to buy school supplies, and we could set a time to meet at the record shop we saw each other at two years ago.
> 
> Take care,
> 
> Ted

By then, Rabastan had taken a sip of his tea only to realise someone had put salt in it. He was noticeably upset, but to save face stood up and left, which did not stop Sirius from laughing at him as he walked away. Of course, Andromeda wrote back immediately, saying she’d check with her uncle Alphard, but she thought it was very likely that she could make it. She had never fathomed Ted might have wanted to tell his parents about her, but she guessed if her parents weren’t blood purity fanatics, she might have wanted to share the news that she was kind of seeing someone. They’d probably be dating, matter-of-factly. Ted had wanted to ask her to be his girlfriend, but she stopped him before he could. There was no possibility for them to date like other people did. The castle was full of curious eyes and she knew too well how fast gossip travelled. She couldn’t risk Bellatrix finding out. She didn’t trust her sister to act rationally if she learnt that she was involved with a muggleborn. In any case, she told Ted he could tell his parents if he wanted.

Sirius and Andromeda left to visit their uncle a week before Andromeda’s birthday to plead her case. She had everything sorted out but getting her uncle on board, and she would send Maia after her visit, telling Ted whether they’d be seeing each other or he’d have to send her her birthday present.

“Please let me go out into muggle London again, uncle.” Andromeda blurted out as soon as she’d gotten out of the fireplace. He was taken aback.

“It’s not safe, Andromeda. You know I love your rebellious spirit, but I can’t risk your safety. Letting you out two years ago was risky enough.”

“Please, uncle, she needs to go.” Sirius pleaded with her. The urgency in their voices made him raise an eyebrow.

“Why is this so urgent?” Andromeda wouldn’t say, she didn’t want her uncle having to lie on her behalf more than he already did. Sirius, however, did not care for such trivialities.

“Andromeda’s got a boyfriend.” Andromeda shot him an angry look. “Well, sort of.” Uncle Alphard looked like he was above all that teenage drama until Sirius expanded. “The thing is he’s a muggleborn.” At those words, uncle Alphard let out a long sigh, held the bridge of his nose, thinking for a second, then turned to the tea table nearby and magicked a couple teacups and a teapot.

“Let’s drink some tea, shall we?” They sat around the table, and he made some biscuits appear on a plate. “Now, Andromeda, I always knew you wouldn’t just go out with any sobbish pureblood wizard your family set you up with but… I really thought you’d be dating that Prewett lad who was here a few summers ago.” She _had_ dated him, which meant her uncle was much more perceptive that she’d been giving him credit for. “Do you understand what’s at stake here? I know you must think you love him but, really, I’d hate to see you casted aside for someone whom we’re not sure is worth it.” Andromeda knew her uncle didn’t oppose her dating a muggleborn, he was only worried about her family’s reaction.

“I know, uncle. Believe me, I do. Bellatrix told me about her engagement before Christmas and it all felt too real. I don’t _love_ him, not yet at least, and I know perfectly well what’s at stake, which is why I want to figure us out as casually as possible.” Her uncle did not seem to trust her words completely, so she sighed and proceeded to make her case. “Iola Black, disowned for marrying muggle Bob Hitchens. Phineas Black, disowned for supporting muggle rights. Marius Black, disowned for being a squib. Cedrella Black, disowned for marrying blood traitor Septimus Weasley. Those are the disowned members of The Noble and Most Ancient House of Black, all blasted off the tapestry at 12 Grimmauld Place. I _know_ what’s at stake, uncle. Do not think for a second that I’m taking this lightly, because I’m not.” He sighed, he couldn’t fight such solid statement.

“Very well, I’ll cover for you.” Andromeda and Sirius beamed. “I worry about you, Andromeda, but never doubt my loyalty to you and Sirius. I know all too well what it is like to want to go against this family.”

“Is that why you never married?” Andromeda asked.

“Partly, yes.”

 

Andromeda was rummaging through some records when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She had been planning on keeping it cool, but every cell in her body fluttered when she turned around and saw Ted. He was wearing simple muggle clothes, unlike the flashy patterned ones the muggles in the shop were wearing. She thanked Merlin that Ted had chosen solid colours, the patterns around them seemed to want to test her visual patience. She was wearing a dress. She’d begun to realise that any dress that was cut to knee-length was safe to wear on muggle London.

“Ted!” She hugged him tight. He was taller, she soon realised. Growth spurts were confusing, boys seemed to grow up overnight. He also seemed more handsome. Had he always been this good-looking? Maybe it was the entire month she’d gone without seeing him.

“Happy birthday, Dromeda.” He said, smiling wide. “You look very pretty today.” He handed her a small envelope. She opened it and found two papers with _Rosemary’s Baby_ written on them. She was confused.

“Who’s Rosemary? Why do I care about her baby?” Her eyes went wide with horror. “Did you get someone pregnant, Ted Tonks? You’re fifteen! What the hell—” Ted saw his mistake immediately. Some muggles had begun looking at them.

“Dromeda calm down, nobody’s pregnant, you’re gonna cause a scene!” He put his hands on her shoulders, reassuringly. “They’re tickets! I’m taking you to the cinema, we’re gonna watch a film. It’s a muggle thing, okay? There is this giant photograph and it moves for a long time, and it has sound and it tells a story.” Andromeda calmed down, slowly remembering she’d heard about films before.

“Oh, I think I know what you mean. Gideon told me about them once. Okay, so the film’s called _Rosemary’s Baby_?” Ted nodded. “Alright. Alright.” She sighed in relief, then smacked his arm, teasingly. “Ted Tonks you nearly scared me to death, for Merlin’s sake! Just because I wear nail polish and I listen to muggle music, it doesn’t mean I know everything about muggles. We haven’t gotten to muggle entertainment and leisure activities in Muggle Studies, you know? Merlin, I thought for a second that you had a very disturbed idea of what a birthday present was.” He grinned, and steered her out of the shop, on their way to the cinema.

“It’s cute when you don’t understand muggle things, though. You jump to conclusions very quickly. How could you possibly think I was going to have a child?”

“I don’t know! I was just thinking how handsome you looked…” Ted grinned, flattered. “I’d never stopped to think what relationships you had before me. And then you hand me these papers with the word baby?” She shrugged. “Anyway, what is this _flim_ about?”

“ _Film_. It’s a psychological horror. It might be more of a comedy for us, muggle horror films are usually very dumb. I’ve heard it’s very good though. It’s supposed to be about this woman that becomes paranoid that some cult is after her baby.”

“Huh.” He handed her a yellow headband, she stared at it, confused. It didn’t exactly match her purple dress.

“Put that on. I’m pretty sure we’re uh, below the age limit for the film.” He lowered his voice. “I may have put a charm on it.” She looked at him.

“What are you going to use?” He pulled out a wristwatch, grinning. They put on the wristwatch and the headband and walked up to the cinema. Andromeda did not see any difference in Ted, but she figured it was probably a charm directed towards muggles. She looked at all the snacks that were being sold at the entrance. At once, she knew she wanted some popcorn. She asked the person at the counter for a bucket.

“I can pay for that,” Ted offered.

“I know it’s my birthday, but you already got the tickets. I know this is going to sound awful, but I’ve got more money than I could ever spend, so let me get the popcorn.” Ted shrugged, defeated. “Oh, and could you add some butterbeer—”

“She meant,” Ted interrupted her. “Can we get two cokes? Thanks.” He turned to her and spoke in a lower voice. “Butterbeer is a wizarding drink. We don’t have that.”

“That’s sad.” When they got the popcorn, Andromeda saw it wasn’t moving, and was about to ask for the fluttering kind when Ted stopped her.

“The fluttering kind is enchanted. Muggles only have the normal kinds: salted, buttered, caramelised… you know.”

“The saddest part about what you’re telling me is that muggles don’t know what they’re missing out on.” They made their way deeper inside. The person at the gate checked their tickets and didn’t give them a second glance. Inside, Andromeda understood rather quickly why going to the cinema could be seen as a desirable date activity. It was a comfy, dark, and cosy place, and as soon as they were seated, Ted pulled his arm around her. She turned to look at him, arching up an eyebrow.

“Is that what you would’ve done to win the heart of a muggle girl if you hadn’t been a wizard?” She asked in a low voice.

“But I already got your heart—” she pushed him teasingly.

“Answer the question, Tonks.”

“It’s usually what muggles do in dates, yes. But I would’ve never invaded your personal space if I didn’t know I was welcome to.” At that, Andromeda smiled softly.

“So what? Am I getting the full muggle dating experience?” Ted grinned.

“If I didn’t know you, I’d be scared to death of the possibility of it being a trick question because yes, that’s exactly what I’m doing. I have no way of surprising you with magic, because we’re not allowed to do magic out of the castle until we’re seventeen.” Andromeda looked at his wristwatch and doubted Ted’s full obedience of the law. “I guessed you wouldn’t expect the kind of things that happen in a muggle date. Specially since you have kindly pointed out that you still don’t cover muggle entertainment and leisure activities in Muggle Studies.” Andromeda looked at the empty white screen.

“Is this supposed to be blank like that?” Ted nodded.

“Yes, it should be starting in a few minutes.”

“Is kissing part of going to the cinema?”

“It can be, I guess,” he said, flushing. “Some would consider it rather improper, this being a public place and all.” Andromeda smirked, and pulled him into a kiss. She’d been wanting to kiss Ted since she’d seen him in the muggle record shop. It gave her the same familiar thrill she’d gotten those last few days at the castle, sneaking into empty classrooms. “Look at you, Ted Tonks. You were a perfect goody-two-shoes when I first met you in the train and now you’re making out with a girl in public in a film you’re supposedly too young to watch, by means of, what I presume to be, illegally enchanted accessories.”

“You’ve had a bad influence on me. All that sneaking around in the castle.” Andromeda looked down.

“You know how much I’d like to be public with you, Ted,” he sighed.

“I—Yes, I know. I wasn’t blaming you—look, it’s going to start.” The dim lighting of the room was turned off, and a series of images began appearing in the screen. It was an experience like no other. Andromeda could tell that if the film had been truly scary, it would sent them into each other’s arms, trembling, but she and Ted—although they thought the plot was quite good—still thought some of the ways muggles portrayed evil and evil forces was rather funny. When the film ended, Andromeda was beside herself with wonder.

“Ted that was incredible!” She said, excitedly. “I didn’t know muggles could do such a thing! It’s so very cool how they have come up with things such as this to make up for their lack of magic!” Ted noticed some muggles leaving the room where peering at them rather curiously.

“Keep it down, Dromeda, the muggles will hear you.”

“Right, sorry.” She stood up, and took Ted’s hand in hers. “Where are we going now?”


	24. prefects

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Part of the chapter is based off this text post: https://mischiefhasbeenmanaged.tumblr.com/post/178925656671/andromeda-i-cant-believe-youre-engaged-to

After she’d gotten home from her date with Ted, feeling so happy she made it through her birthday dinner without rolling her eyes once—Sirius had asked her if she was feeling alright—, she found her Hogwarts letter with the school supplies she’d be needing that year. She was surprised though, to find an extra note and a pin attached. She’d been made prefect. Her mother looked as pleased as her expressionlessness allowed her, and she could’ve sworn she saw her father smirk. It was the most approval she’d gotten from both her parents at the same time in her entire life. She rejoiced in Bellatrix’s appalled look, and was even happier the next day, when she received a brief note from Ted.

> Dear Dromeda,
> 
> I’ve just been made prefect! How about you? We may now have yet another excuse to spend time together. Yesterday was a lot of fun, I wish we could go out on dates more often. At least we got weekends at Hogsmeade to look forward to.
> 
> See you,
> 
> Ted.

Andromeda was hoping Gideon was made prefect as well, but she knew it would be a long shot. Gideon wasn’t the student with the cleanest record. She felt suddenly ill when thinking about other prefects. The prefect meetings would be quite some meetings, considering they would also include other people from her house. She and Ted would have to be extra careful. It would also include Fabian, and she was uncertain as to how that would develop. She hoped they were completely back on track as friends, otherwise, things could get awkward. She was excited, nonetheless.

Aboard the Hogwarts Express, Andromeda headed towards the prefects’ carriage, which was also separated in compartments, she guessed—correctly at that—that the compartments had to be one per year, otherwise it would get a little crowded. She was pleased to notice that her compartment was bigger and much more comfortable than the regular compartments. They had assigned seating, and she stowed her luggage above hers. She sat and looked around at the other seats. She was the first one to arrive, which was no surprise, considering she always said goodbye to her parents as quickly as she could, and hadn’t come back for a second goodbye after dropping her luggage. Her seat was next to the window, and she was to be sitting in front of Ted (Hufflepuff’s prefects, to be less romantically focused). She turned her head to the door and saw Lovegood entering the compartment.

“So you are a prefect.” He nodded, shyly. Lovegood had always been a rather shy and lonely boy, rather clumsy in Potions, too. Andromeda only ever saw him in the lessons Slytherin shared with Ravenclaw.

“Hello.” He put away his luggage and sat, looking quite anxious. She almost felt for the lad. Right after followed Fate, who looked at her with what looked like disappointment— _ had she been expecting Rose? _ Andromeda wondered. Gryffindor’s prefects entered the compartment together, and Andromeda was now getting annoyed at how long Ted was taking. There was no way they could have a little privacy now. Dorcas and Caradoc seemed pleased to see Andromeda.

“Hey, Andy! Good to see you here. What a relief. I was dreading to have no friendly Slytherin faces in the compartment.” Dorcas said, grinning, and Caradoc nodded in agreement. Fate did not seem happy at the implication that Rose was not a friendly face. Andromeda wanted to know who else in her house had been appointed a prefect. She did not want it to be Amycus, he’d be hell on earth. She was hoping for Nolan or Gates and when Gates walked into the compartment, she sighed in relief. He was the best she could hope for. He was only an idiot when he was hanging out with Amycus and he knew to mind his own business. It was as close to a friend as it would get. The next person to come into the compartment was Demeter Jones, Andromeda recognised her from classes and the times she’d seen her hanging out with Ted. Demeter gave her a wink and a knowing smile. Did she know about Ted and she? She had not even told Gideon.  _ I’m going to kill him _ . Just then, Ted walked in, followed by older students whom Andromeda supposed were the Head Boy and Head Girl.

“Sorry, ran a bit late.” He waved around as a general greeting, taking a seat in fron of Andromeda, smiling covertly at her. It caught Andromeda’s attention how everybody had known who Demeter and Ted were. Nobody looked at them like strangers. It had never occurred to her that Ted might be popular. Andromeda recognised the Head Boy to be Lewis Fawcett, and the Head Girl was Rachelle Fuller. What a surprise.

“Hi there everyone, congrats on becoming prefects!” Rachelle said. She had light brown hair and long full lashes, and Andromeda thought she was probably one of the prettiest women she’d ever seen. “We’re here to give you instructions.” Lewis seemed slightly less energetic. His dark hair and pale skin reminded her a lot of her family, but his eyes were brown and warm, and his cheeks here freckled in a messy pattern.

“So, the Heads of your Houses will hand you the patrolling schedules. You must always partner up with someone from another House, for purposes of fairness.”

“Indeed,” Rachelle agreed, “since you are prefects, you can take points as punishment when a student is breaking the rules. You cannot take points for another prefect’s actions, and to ensure you don’t abuse your power at night patrolling shifts, is that mixing up is mandatory.” Andromeda stole a glance in Ted’s direction, and was glad to see he was as excited as her, if they could choose their patrolling partners...

“You will be assigned your patrolling partners and, most likely, you will keep them for the rest of your time as prefects,” Lewis added. Another glance, disappointment in both faces. “Also, we’re happy to let you in on the secret of the prefects’ exclusive bathroom. It’s awesome. The schedules for boys and girls will be posted and not respecting them can result in serious consequences, so I’d suggest you simply don’t. The first password is  _ hinkypunk _ . We’ll update you as they change.”

“You’ll also have to show the first years where their common rooms are, after they are sorted. Your assistance is required when decorating the Great Hall for festivities, and at least one prefect per house must stay during the holidays.” Andromeda felt all of those were great news. She was hoping with all her might to get paired with Ted for patrolling. Just as the Head Boy and Girl left, she looked at Demeter, who gave her another knowing smile, and she remembered she had to yell at Ted later.

 

“Oi, Andy!” Andromeda was getting off the train when she heard Gideon calling out to her. “Wanna take a ride with me?” She spun around and saw Gideon, flaming hair and freckles, and run to smother him with a hug. “I’ll take that as a yes.” They entered a carriage and sat down in front of each other.

“How were your holidays? Did you have fun?”

“Actually, they were pretty weird. My parents kept having to leave to meet people and they looked rather distressed. Did you know people are disappearing? It’s the most curious thing.”

“I didn’t know. My parents are elsewhere all the time, too. Father simply leaves the sports supplement on the table, he no longer leaves behind the entire paper. I think it’s most suspicious, too. Has Molly told you anything? Now that she’s out of school maybe she knows something.”

“Molly has other stuff to worry about. Arthur came by to ask my parents for their blessing to marry Molly… they flipped. Said they were too young to marry and that they had to think things through, that this wasn’t the time to go around marrying people.”

“Wow, I thought your parents liked Arthur.”

“They do, but I reckon they’re worried. Molly thinks it’s because of money. We don’t have a lot of money but we live comfortably. Arthur… he is really poor. She says they’re worried she won’t have enough to get by. I think it’s something else.”

“What if it has to do with blood status?”

“What makes you think that?”

“I don’t know, Bellatrix and Rodolphus have been acting weirder than usual. Rabastan too, when he’s not pestering me. They keep talking about this Lord something. The first time Bellatrix mentioned him was the summer before last, but I didn’t pay it much attention back then… she didn’t insist much on the subject. Lately, however, it’s all she and Rodolphus talk about. I thought they’d be planning their wedding, but clearly that’s not as important.”

“So you think it has something to do with a noble?”

“I don’t know. I don’t think he’s a real lord. I only know that whomever Bellatrix and Rodolphus are talking about, can’t be someone good. If I got a knut for every time I heard pureblood and mudblood this summer, I’d be richer than my parents. I’m not saying your parents care about that stuff but, if suddenly all people who do not conform to pureblood ideals had a target on their back… don’t you think your parents would have more than enough reason to oppose Molly and Arthur’s marriage? The Prewetts still have some respect from the pureblood families. The Weasleys? They are just as well muggleborns to them.”

“Andy, what you’re saying is very sinister. I don’t like where this is going.”

“Me neither. I’ve had some suspicions for a while now, though. My parents keep meeting with influential and powerful pureblood families, Bellatrix and Rodolphus are talking about some pureblood fanatic, we won’t be allowed to go out during the summer because ‘it’s dangerous’, and your parents don’t let Molly marry Arthur, whom she’s been dating since I met her. You’d think they’d have something against it long before they decided to get married if they’re so upset now, wouldn’t you? Also, how many people have disappeared?”

“A muggle, three muggleborn wizards, and a half-blood witch.”

“Terribly curious that none of them were purebloods.”

“Andy, if what you’re saying is true, and things continue to escalate… I don’t like to think what things will be like once we’re out of Hogwarts.”

“You think I do? I’ve been trying to keep it out of my mind, but it’s been playing in the back of my mind for a while now. And suddenly you tell me your parents are acting weird, too?”

“It’s not the same Andy, you’re from one of the oldest pureblood families! You’re automatically safe, but me? If things go south I will fight back. I’ll be a target not before long, too.”

“Who says I won’t fight back?”

“Why would you? You’re automatically safe but if you defy your family you could be dead in your sleep. People will understand it if, come the worst, you play it safe.” Andromeda had an afflicted expression on her face. Should she tell Gideon? What the hell, Demeter already knew.

“I kissed Ted, Gid.” Gideon’s eyes went wide with surprise.

“What do you mean you kissed Ted?”

“I mean that we kissed at the Slug Club’s last dinner party. Then we kissed on an empty classroom, several times. We kissed on the train back home, too. I have feelings for Ted Tonks, Gid.” Gideon almost flipped the carriage.

“You got invited to the Slug Club and didn’t invite me? And you waited until now to tell me about Ted?!”

“I’m sorry, Gid. I truly am. No one can know about Ted and I. If word gets out… you said it yourself, I could be dead in my sleep. One thing is standing up against my sister to protect a muggleborn. People can see many different things in that. But to date a muggleborn? There’s just the one interpretation.” Gideon waved her off.

“I was just kidding, I get it. You and Ted, huh? I should’ve bet on that. You were flirting so shamelessly... I always thought you’d make a cute couple.”

“We’re not dating. At least, not officially. You know, because my family would kill me if they knew.”

“But you’re sneaking into empty classrooms to make out? You’re dating, alright.”

“So I guess that makes you and Podmore boyfriends, too.” Gideon frowned.

“It’s not the same. Also, I think that’s over.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know. You know he’s muggleborn. Muggles are very weird about being gay, apparently. He freaked out and won’t let me near him.” Gideon shrugged. “I guess that happens. I only hope he comes to terms with it.”

“Are you alright?”

“He was hot, but I wasn’t  _ in love _ with him or anything. I’ll be fine.”

 

Two weeks into the school period, after the trials, Andromeda had her first Quidditch training session. Except that, when she arrived, she was given a quizzical look by Rodolphus, the new team captain.

“Black, what are you doing here?” He said when he saw her.

“What do you mean what am I doing here, I’m here to practise.”

“Well, this is awkward.” Andromeda was puzzled, Rabastan looked like he didn’t want to get involved.

“Of course it’s awkward to see your stupid face asking me what I am doing here.” Rodolphus frowned.

“You’re benched for the entire season, Black.” A few stunned faces looked at Rodolphus, among them Bagman and Juno. Unexpectedly, Zabini was also one of them.

“What do you mean she’s benched for the entire season, Rod? She’s the best chaser we’ve got!” Andromeda smiled proudly, thankful for the compliment.

“Well she can either be benched the entire season, or she can leave the team. Whichever she prefers.”

“You’re mad! Who are you gonna put in my position? Malfoy?”

“Yaxley tried for the team yesterday, he’s not half bad. Also Alecto could step in when she’s not needed as a beater.”

“I was at the trials, Rodolphus, they both suck!” Juno and Zabini nodded.

“It is what it is, dear sister.” Andromeda was furious. She stumped the ground and beat Rodolphus with the stick of her broom on the arm.

“Just because you’re marrying my sister doesn’t mean you get to call me  _ your _ sister. Don’t you bloody dare come looking for me when you lose the season, and I hope you do.” She stormed away, and Juno and Zabini kept arguing with Rodolphus, while Bagman watched her go away. He liked to win, and knew there wasn’t much they could do without her, now that Fletcher was also gone. When she walked into her common room, still in her Quidditch robes, she walked up to Bellatrix, who sat on an armchair, filing her nails.

“Your stupid fiancé benched me for the entire season!” Bellatrix lazily lifted her gaze.

“Well you must have done something to deserve it, Dromeda.”

“No, I didn’t! The season hasn’t even started and he basically kicked me out of the team!”

“Oh, that. Yeah, he told me about that, said you needed to be taught a lesson.”

“What do you mean I need to be told a lesson?”

“Dromeda, sit down, would you?” Andromeda remained standing. “I’ve been very patient with you these past few years, very tolerant. It’s got to stop now. You can’t carry on with this foolishness of hanging out with people who are mudbloods and mudblood supporters. You understand they’re on a much lower level than people like us.”

“I don’t. I’m not going to adscribe to whatever nonsense you do. I won’t stand by it.”

“Dromeda, listen to me, this is much bigger than you and me, our family, or our house. This is the destiny of the Wizarding World.” Andromeda was scared, she’d never seen her sister talk like that.

“You know I don’t agree with you, just leave me be.” She sighed and sat in front of her. “Let’s not fight. Tell me, how is the engagement going?” Bellatrix seemed to want to keep pressing the subject, but finally resigned herself to reply Andromeda’s question.

“It’s going fine.”

“But you love each other, right?” Bellatrix looked puzzled.

“What does love have to do with any of this?”

“You’re getting  _ married _ .”

“Well, when you put it like that, I guess I don’t  _ dislike _ him. He’s alright, but seriously, Dromeda, grow up, nobody marries for love.” Andromeda couldn’t help to think of Ted. His face in her thoughts hurt much more than getting benched for the season.


	25. two curses and a charm

Andromeda knew perfectly well that whenever things were going great, something had to go wrong. So, upon further reflection, she came to terms with the idea that she’d been benched because Ted and she had lucked out, and got patrolling duty together. Not everything could be perfect.

“I still can’t believe you told Demeter.” She said, and Ted sighed, they’d had that conversation at least four times already.

“She won’t tell anyone, I swear.”

“Well, at least now we’re alone, and we can do whatever we want,” she pulled his tie, teasingly.

“Are you sure about this?” Ted said, in a hushed voice.

“You know we’ve been assigned this area. No one will come this way unless it’s a student breaking the rules, which means we’ll have leverage.”

“But Peeves—”

“Peeves likes to torment Pringle at nights. We prefects aren’t half as much fun.”

“Okay, but—”

“Shut up and kiss me, Ted Tonks.” He shrugged and obliged, put his hands on her hips and his lips to her lips. He sometimes still thought Andromeda had to be some kind of dream, he couldn’t be so lucky. Their lips parted and Ted played with a lock of her hair. It was silky smooth and chocolatey. He kissed her cheek, Andromeda blushing to the sudden display of tenderness. He grabbed her hand, their fingers playing gingerly.

“Dromeda, I know we have to remain secret, but can you please do me the favour of letting me be your boyfriend?” He put a lock of her hair behind her ear with his free hand. Her eyes were so trapping. The only eyes that had haunted him since he had been insulted so deeply in that train compartment. Since she’d threatened Podmore with the fiercest expression on her face. His expression was kind, pleading almost. She knew there was not much for them but stolen glances and secret kisses, but when she saw the way Ted looked at her, Andromeda wanted to give him the world. He deserved as much. She sighed, resigned.

“As long as you understand my position, Ted, you can call me yours all you want.” He smiled, and kissed her softly.

“I want you to call me yours,” she rolled her eyes.

“You’re my boyfriend, Ted Tonks.” Just then, she saw a blonde shadow out of the corner of her eye. She stepped back to look at it, shocked. She raised her wand at the speed of light and saw that the person standing behind Ted was none other than her own sister, Narcissa. She was moving her mouth, astonished, but no sounds came out.

“Cissy, whatever you think you saw, I can assure you it’s not quite what you think.” Narcissa, with her glossy blonde hair and her sapphire eyes, had found her voice.

“Dromeda, what are you doing? Is that a mudblood?”

“Muggleborn, Cissy, but it’s not what you think, let me explain.” Ted looked from Narcissa to Andromeda, trying to decide if there was anything for him to help Andromeda with. The family resemblance was quite striking, he observed. Even though their hair and eyes were totally different, they had the same nose and facial expressions.

“You kissed that mudblood and then called him your boyfriend, Dromeda! I may be younger than you are, but I’m not stupid, you know?” Andromeda sighed, frustrated.

“Okay, it is what you think. But I need you to keep this a secret, Cissy. You have to have my back, remember what Trixie told us. It’s only us Black sisters out here.” Narcissa meditated it for a second.

“You’re asking me to lie for you, Dromeda. Not only to father and mother, but to Bella as well. You know I can’t do that.”

“Please, Narcissa,” Ted intervened, and Narcissa suddenly seemed to remember he existed, looking at him like he was a nasty stain on her robes.

“Ew, mudblood. Nobody gave you permission to talk to me, much less call me by my first name.” Ted gave her an irritated look.

“You know, I understand you might not like me, but you don’t have to insult me, that was uncalled for.”

“Ted, please don’t.” Andromeda put her hand on his arm, reassuringly. “Cissy, I’ll do your homework for a month and I’ll give you my diamond necklace, the one you like so much. Can you please  _ please _ keep quiet?” She grinned.

“And your hairbrush. The one with the blue opal back.” Andromeda sighed with relief.

“Of course, Cissy. Thank you.” She regained her composure. “Now, Cissy, would you care to explain why you’re out of bed so late?”

“Oh, I was only talking to Evan, you know, he’ll later brag in front of Lucius and make him jealous.” Ted han an incredulous expression on his face. “I think this year I’ll start making eye contact with him, just to give him something to hold on to, you know.” Andromeda rolled her eyes.

“So Rosier is also out of bed?”

“Yeah, but he was caught by McGonagall.”

“And you let him take the fall for you?”

“Well, of course, what’s the point of being this pretty, otherwise.”

“I still have to take points from Slytherin for this,” Ted said. Unexpectedly, both sisters turned to him, making the same angry face.

“Are you nuts?” He blinked, surprised.

“She’s out of bed past curfew, it’s only fair.”

“Do you want her to tell half the castle that she saw us together?” He sighed, irritated.

“Of course not.”

“Then you’ll have to let me go,” said Narcissa, triumphant.

 

In spite of their deal, Andromeda was still worried Narcissa might spill the beans. She was specially wary of her talking to Bellatrix. Whenever she saw them talking in the common room, she felt her heart beat faster and a cold sweat would run down her back. Narcissa was now often sitting in the sofas, brushing her hair with the blue opal brush that matched her eyes, looking like a mermaid of fantasy, like the one in the painting hanging in the prefects’ bathroom. On top of having to study for her O.W.L.s, she had to do Narcissa’s homework, and the extra free time she had now she was benched for the entire season suddenly became very useful. One dreaded afternoon, however, Bellatrix approached her.

“Hey there, Dromeda, I’ve been told the most curious rumour. Want to hear it?” Andromeda shook her head and went back to studying. Bellatrix took her face in one of her hands, turning it so she was looking at her, pressing her cheeks together. “I actually think you do. You see, a little bird told me you were seen with mudblood Tonks.”  _ Damn you, Cissy _ , Andromeda thought. Still, she tried to play dumb.

“Muggleborn, and of course we were seen together, Trixie. We have to patrol together, we’re both prefects, it’s not my choice.” Bellatrix smirked.

“See, it wasn’t during patrols that my sources say they saw you together.” Andromeda arched an eyebrow, surprised. It hadn’t been Narcissa, then, it had been someone else. Which was both good and bad news. “I was told they’ve seen you sneaking into empty classrooms with the mudblood.” Andromeda held up her hands, in surrender.

“Muggleborn but okay, you got me, Trixie. Tonks is tutoring me. McGonagall said my transfigurations need a lot of improvement if I’m gonna pass my O.W.L.s. We have Transfiguration with Hufflepuff, and she asked Tonks to tutor me. We were sneaking because I knew what it would look like if I were seen with a muggleborn. I didn’t want to tarnish your reputation.” Bellatrix did not seem convinced.

“Is that so? Then I suppose professor McGonagall will have no problem confirming your story.” Bellatrix left the common room with her head high, and Andromeda knew she was screwed. She waited for Bellatrix’s return with growing dread, but when she actually came back, she only shot Andromeda a curious look. What had McGonagall said? It wasn’t until the end of her next Transfiguration class that Andromeda understood what had happened.

“Miss Black, mister Tonks, please stay for a second.” She said at the end of the lesson. They shot each other a nervous look as they walked up to her.

“Miss Black, you can imagine my surprise when miss Bellatrix came by to ask if I’d requested mister Tonks to tutor you.” They winced, getting ready for the reprimand that was to follow. “Naturally, I said I had.” Surprised expressions. “I’m not accustomed to lie for my students, and if I were you I wouldn’t bet on it happening ever again.”

“Professor McGonagall I—”

“I do not like the way miss Bellatrix goes about things, nor the ideals your family upholds. I was inclined to do you a favour because I know you to be different, miss Black. Nevertheless, this is no uninterested favour. I expect serious improvement in your work, miss Black. I’m afraid you’re caught up in this, mister Tonks.” Ted tried not to smile.

“It’s really no problem, professor.”

“Ten points to Hufflepuff, for your kindness.” They left the classroom and as soon as they were out of professor McGonagall’s sight, they smiled broadly.

 

They were in an empty classroom, a few weeks later, studying Transfiguration, which was now a prerequisite to uphold their lie. Andromeda had a good hang of the Vanishing spell, but turning her owl into opera glasses escaped her. She was growing frustrated and tired. She turned to Ted, who’d demonstrated the procedure with ease, once again.

“It’s not fair, Ted, you have natural talent. Probably has to do with your colour-changing eyes.”

“You’re a great witch, Dromeda. I’m sure you’ll get it soon enough.”

“Why don’t we just make out? A good luck kiss for your upcoming Quidditch match.” Ted flushed.

“I’m trying to teach you, Dromeda.” She jumped off the table she had been sitting on.

“Come on, Ted.” She put her hands around his neck. “Just a little kiss.”

“McGonagall is going to get angry at us if you don’t do well.”

“You’d think you’d be begging me to make out with you,” she said, pouting. He chuckled.

“Alright, alright—”

“What’s that?” Andromeda asked suddenly, noticing a small scar on his neck. “Is that a scar? What happened?” He covered it quickly with his hand.

“Oh, it’s nothing, just Quidditch practice, you know—”

“Is that another one?” She grabbed his wrist to examine it better. “Edward Tonks, these are curse scars. Tell me the truth.” He sighed.

“I may have had some encounters with your sister. Nothing major, or that I can’t handle, I promise.”

“You’re hurt.”

“I’m telling you it’s fine, Dromeda.”

“You’re  _ hurt _ , and it’s because of me.” Her face showed worry, he wanted to appease her.

“Let it be, Dromeda, it’s fine.”

“It’s not fine,” she said, dead serious. Her eyes were full of a rage Ted had never seen before. “You’re my boyfriend, Ted. I will not let this slide like it’s no big deal.”

“I can protect myself.”

“I would usually agree but this is Bellatrix we’re talking about.” She hadn’t called her sister by her full name not once in her entire life.

“But—”

“No.” She stepped back and began walking towards the door. “Bellatrix will stop this.” She walked out of the classroom. Full of fury, she walked in the direction of her common room, Ted following close by. “You stay here,” she told him, when they had reached the stairs that made it to the dungeons.

“I’m not letting you face your sister by yourself.”

“I don’t care. This is between she and I. You wait here.” Inside her common room, Bellatrix was sitting next to Rodolphus, reading a letter. “Bellatrix. Out. Now.” Bellatrix raised an eyebrow, but handed Rodolphus her letter and stood up. Rodolphus stood up as well. “Alone.”

“Rod, if you please.” Rodolphus shot Andromeda a suspicious look but sat down. Bellatrix followed her out of the common room and into an empty classroom in the dungeons.

“What the hell are you thinking?”

“You’ll have to be more specific, dear sister.”

“Don’t ‘dear’ me. You know fully well what I’m talking about. You couldn’t prove I was spending time with Ted out of my own volition, so you had to go and try to get it out of him on your own terms.” Bellatrix smirked.

“Oh, is it Ted now?”

“Don’t give me that rubbish, Bellatrix. None of us is dumb. You know fully well I’m dating him, you don’t need me telling you that.”

“The mudblood deserved it. Got himself into big trouble. If you can’t see it, I won’t do anything to you, you’re still my sister, whether I like it or not. Nothing stops me from harming him.” An evil grin crept into her lips.

“You’re mental!” Andromeda said, her eyes filled with horror. “What has happened to you? I reckon you’ve never been a saint, but you’re definitely not my sister.”

“Dromeda, dear, have you been paying any attention to me at all? You’ve been so busy with your mudblood and blood traitor friends you haven’t noticed a thing.” She laughed. “I’m still your sister, but if you keep this up, soon enough you won’t be mine.”

“Do you think I want to be your sister? What you’re doing is despicable. I told you, years ago. We Blacks don’t get our hands dirty. Torturing my boyfriend is beneath you.”

“I won’t be blasted off the tapestry for giving a mudblood what he deserves. You, on the other hand… anyway, you can’t stop me. You better forget about him, it’ll make things much easier.” Andromeda pulled out her wand and pointed it to her sister.

“You’ve got me wrong, Bellatrix. I have no intention of standing down. You may not want to harm me, but if you get near Ted again, I will not hesitate. Maybe you can’t bear to disappoint our family but, guess what? I have been doing it for years.”

“You wouldn’t dare. You care too much about rules and propriety.” Andromeda walked closer to Bellatrix, until her wand was pointing to her neck.

“Try me, then. Get near him again. I don’t care if I get expelled, if I’m sent to Azkaban. It’ll be a bloody field trip compared to where we grew up.” Bellatrix looked exasperated.

“You don’t understand, Dromeda. The Dark Lord is the most powerful wizard the world has ever seen. He won’t spare you just because you’re a Black.” Her expression hardened. “And make no mistake, once I’m out of Hogwarts, neither will I.”

“You can’t touch me while I’m still a Black.”

“Then I’ll be waiting for the moment you cease to be one.” Still, after that discussion, Bellatrix did not go near Ted anymore, and she and Andromeda never spoke again.


	26. true love

The letter came the morning before the beginning of the Christmas holidays. She was sitting with Rose and Juno. Rose was all chirpy since she and Fate had begun actually dating. Andromeda envied her. She’d give anything to just be blissfully happy about her and Ted. Still, she was happy for her friend. She opened her letter, hoping it would say something that would take her mind off things.

> Dear Andy,
> 
> I write to you in haste because this is a time-sensitive issue. Years ago, you asked to be invited to my wedding if Arthur and I ever got married. We’re eloping. If you wish to attend the ceremony, it will be on 23 December at the place where our new home will be. It’s small but we’ve managed to get a fireplace here so that Gideon and Fabian can attend as well. Of course, only Arthur and I know the name of the wedding location, to ensure secrecy. If you wish to come, you have to go to Country Haven and leave with them. We’ve already arranged distractions for my parents.
> 
> See you soon (hopefully).
> 
> Molly.

Andromeda could not hide her surprise. She’d never had taken Molly for one to elope. Then again, desperate times require desperate measures, and the more time she spent in her common room, now that she did not go to Quidditch practice, the more she felt times had never been more desperate. Andromeda stood up immediately and went by Ravenclaw’s table, which was the closest after Hufflepuff’s. She sat next to Fabian like it was no big deal.

“Hi there.”

“Hi,” said Fabian, quickly catching up and acting like this was usual behaviour for them.

“So, your place for Christmas.”

“My place for Christmas. Do you think you can manage?”

“Only if I get on the train unnoticed and get out last, unnoticed.”

“I think Gideon may have some ideas.”

“Awesome. I’ll be seeing you, then.”

“Yeah.” She stood up, and quickly hurried back to her seat in the Slytherin table, where she tried to get Ted to look at her. Once she had his attention, she mouthed to him to meet her after breakfast. She knew they had to get to class, but she’d be quick.

“Ted, just in case you hear anything, I only sat with Fabian because Molly’s eloping with Arthur and we were talking about her wedding.” Ted looked confused.

“Arthur is eloping? Wouldn’t have pictured him as the type of bloke to do so.” He sighed. “Anyway, you don’t need to explain why you were talking to Prewett. I know you two are still friends.” Andromeda stared at him for a second.

“You’re not jealous?”

“What would I be jealous about? Do I need to be jealous?” Andromeda blinked slowly.

“No, it’s just that—wow, you’re right. My first relationship wasn’t so… trusting. Anything of this sort would be a fight, you know. Specially if our relationship had been a secret, Merlin that would’ve been—” Ted looked around quickly to make sure they were alone, and he kissed her.

“Dromeda, I’d jump off the Astronomy Tower in the blink of an eye if you asked me to. That’s just how much I trust you. I know dating me comes with a great risk for you and I’m not going to taint that compromise with something as petty as unfounded jealousy.” Andromeda found in Ted’s eyes nothing but truth and caring, and she shuddered at the intensity of such emotions. Emotions not unlike her own, but she pushed those feelings down, afraid of them.

 

She’d lied to her parents, saying she was going to stay in the castle for the holidays. Gideon had stood watch while Fabian accompanied on their way to the prefects’ carriage, where her sisters couldn’t see her. They made sure her entire family had left before they got off the train. She was in the clear. She loved being back at Country Haven. As soon as she walked in, Molly’s arms wrapped her in the warmest of hugs.

“Andy! My, how you’ve grown since the last time I saw you. You’re more beautiful with every passing day.” Fabian averted his eyes, he agreed, but knew it was not his place to think so. She almost felt bad for lying to Mr and Mrs Prewett, who were seeing to it that she had her every need taken care of. They shared delicious meals and talked over hot cocoa. The snow outside made everything look like a blank peaceful emptiness. She learnt to knit with Gideon, Molly and Mrs Prewett, by the fire. She listened to Mr Prewett’s stories about his work with dragons, which were thrilling and wondrous. 23 December arrived soon enough. She was still sleeping when Mrs Prewett walked into her room with blue robes and a thick woollen cape.

“I’ll be back at night, dears, I need to attend important business. Stay out of trouble.” Molly and she nodded. As soon as she had disapparated, they woke up Fabian and Gideon and they all stumbled on their way to the fireplace, getting there as soon as they could. Molly descended the stairs with a case that had all her things. All of them had bags prepared, which they had hid underneath their beds.

“The Burrow!” Molly said, as she stepped into the fireplace, after dropping the floo powder. They followed suit. The Burrow was the cosiest yet smallest dwelling Andromeda had ever seen, and most certainly, one she could’ve never imagined on her own. A small stove stood next to the sink, and all the furniture was crowded into the one small room that made up almost the entire house. There were only two doors, one that led outside and another one that, Andromeda guessed, led to the only bedroom. “Arthur should be here any minute. He had to ask for the day off at work. He’s working at the ministry, you know?” She said, proudly. “Andromeda, would you care to follow me to the bedroom? I have to get ready, and I could use some help. Audrey should be waiting inside.” Andromeda nodded. “Wonderful. Fabian, Gideon, will you set the tent outside? Arthur’s getting a friend of his from the Ministry to preside the ceremony.” Sure enough, when Andromeda entered the room—which barely fitted the bed and a single dresser—Audrey Fawcett was in there, waiting with a broad smile on her face. She and Molly hugged, and she recognised Andromeda from their Quidditch matches, as Audrey had been Ravenclaw’s team captain.

“We have to get you ready, Molly dear. The sun is not going to wait for us.” Andromeda saw the old white dress Molly was pulling out of her suitcase, and she put a hand on her shoulder.

“Molly, would you mind if I give you a dress of mine? I’ve never worn it.” She opened her bag. She pulled a simple yet beautiful red dress, it had a fluffy skirt and it was covered in lace. With a flick of her wand, the dress was then white. She presented it to Molly. “Something new.” Molly suddenly burst into tears, and nodded. They helped her into the dress, and started braiding her hair into an updo. Audrey took something out of her own bag. A beautiful laced veil was in her hands.

“It was my mother’s. Something old.” They smiled, and set themselves on doing her makeup. The sun was only an hour or so from rising, they had to hurry up. Andromeda help up diamond pendant earrings.

“Something borrowed.” She put them on Molly’s ears, and then Audrey and she changed quickly into their own dresses. Molly looked down at her shoes and, realising they were practically invisible under the long skirt of her new dress, flicked her wand and they changed colour.

“Something blue,” she said, with a smile.

Outside, the tent was deep blue, like the sky. Andromeda soon noted it mimicked the sky, as a faint light seemed to invade the place and the tent, as sunrise approached. The snow all around was undisturbed and kept falling peacefully on top of itself. Arthur was wearing a flashy maroon suit, and a redheaded man—from the resemblance, Andromeda guessed it was one of Arthur’s brothers—stood beside him in a sober black suit, as best man. In the small group of people under the tent, Fabian and Gideon stood in black suits, looking as alike as ever. Lewis Fawcett was also standing there, in blue. Arthur’s friend from the ministry, a young wizard in his early twenties, stood in the back of the tent, next to Arthur and his brother. Another redheaded wizard was among standing next to Amos Diggory, Andromeda supposed he was another brother of Arthur’s. She stood next to Gideon, and nodded towards Arthur.

“She’s about to come outside.” There was nothing expensive or carefully crafted out there. The tent kept out the cold, but they were all standing. Still, she could only see smiling faces. Everybody there was there because of Molly and Arthur, because they cared about them, because they wanted to be a part of the celebration of their happiness. Andromeda had never seen anything like that in her entire life. When Molly came out of the house, she was looking radiant. When she walked, she could see her blue shoes, and she looked lovely as she stood next to Arthur. Audrey, the bridesmaid, stood next to her. Arthur’s hands were trembling. They all stood in silence for a moment. Arthur and Molly were lost deep in each other’s eyes. Andromeda took Gideon’s hand in hers and gave it a squeeze. She could never repay him for what he’d brought into her life. She owed everything she had to Gideon. If he’d never spoken to her that first Flying class, she would’ve never befriended Fabian or Molly, she wouldn’t have fought against her sister. She wouldn’t have found the courage to be herself. The wizard presiding cleared his throat.

“I’m glad to say we’re all here united because these two hard-headed lovers do not care about parental permission.” There was general laughter. “They wouldn’t have invited you, but they needed witnesses, in case Mrs. Prewett showed up and threatened to kill them.” More laughter. “I believe they have prepared their own vows.” Molly smiled, and Arthur began looking in his pockets for a piece of paper.

“Blimey, I’ve lost it.” He whispered. “Nevermind. Molly,” he smiled, nervously happy. “I remember the first time I saw you. We were at King’s Cross Station, you were saying goodbye to your parents, your mother was trying to keep a young redhead devil still.” He glanced into Gideon’s direction. “You looked at me and asked me if I was lost. You thought I was a muggle boy who’d accidentally wandered into the platform. My dad laughed at that. I thought, even back then, that you were the prettiest girl I had ever seen in my life. It was in fourth year that I realised I liked you and I wanted to go out with you. To my astonishment, you did not turn me down.” Laughter. “Molly, I do not have much, I am so close to being “just a wizard” as anyone can possibly be. It makes me the happiest and thus, the richest wizard in the world, to be here, pledging myself to you. I promise to make you happy every day, love you even when we fight, do my best every second to make sure you never look back on your life and regret this moment. I love you, Molly, and I am thrilled to become your husband.” Andromeda noticed tears streaming down her cheeks.

“Arthur. I was asked once what love was. I could only think of you as I formulated the answer. Love is a challenge, it is complement… but love is also you, my dearest Arthur. I am ever so lucky I had the sense to accept to be your girlfriend back in fourth year. Everything next to you is worth it, this past four years have taught me that, even getting yelled at by the Fat Lady.” There was some giggling. “I was told not to marry you because there’re dark times ahead but, to me, that’s all the more reason to do so. Arthur, my love, you’re my light, and I know I’ll need you to shine for me from today until the day we die, just like the sun will rise today bringing light and warmth. You may not show me the way out of the darkness, but you’ll surely keep it at bay. Nothing makes more sense than becoming your wife, and to be able to stand in the face of the unknown by your side.” The wizard presiding was also crying, Andromeda noticed, and he kept crying when he poured golden stars on them with his wand.

“By the power invested in me by the ministry of magic, you are now husband and wife. You may kiss the bride.” Arthur pulled Molly into a kiss, and the sun rose in the horizon, pouring light into the tent. They all clapped, and Andromeda wiped her tears with the back of her hands. In that moment, the door of the house burst open, and Mr and Mrs Prewett came out and took the scene that unfolded in front of them.

“How did they get here?”

“I may have tipped them off in time for them to see Molly in her wedding dress, but too late to stop the wedding.” Fabian admitted, grinning. Instead of looking afraid of her parents, Molly and Arthur looked at them defiantly, hand in hand. Mrs Prewett however, burst into tears and simply hugged her daughter. Mr Prewett fondly hugged his daughter as well, and they all smiled. She was already married, there wasn’t much to do about it. Andromeda knew such a scene would never occur in her family.

After the lunch Molly had prepared herself—it had been simply phenomenal—Andromeda was sitting outside, looking at the tent in silence. Her goldenrod dress and brown embroidered cape made her seem ethereal, regal. Molly and Arthur were the real deal, what they had was true love. Andromeda could only hope she could be half as lucky as they were. The door opened, and Fabian stepped outside. He looked at Andromeda, and sat next to her.

“It’s been a long time since we last sat like this.”

“Yeah…” it had been, Andromeda realised.

“You look beautiful,” he said, not a trace of redness on his face, but for the one the cold air produced on his nose. “I’m not hitting on you, just so we’re clear.” Andromeda grinned.

“Good.” She stared at him for a second. Fabian looked very different from the last time she’d truly looked at him. His features were slightly sharper, and he was long like a tree. His freckles were still a gift to his face, that might’ve looked stern otherwise.

“I’m dating Ted Tonks. I’m not bragging or anything.” She snorted. “There’s nothing to brag about, even if I wanted to. Everything is so messed up... Bellatrix has been using him a target for her curses.” Fabian seemed alarmed and, in her heart, she thanked him for his concern. “I talked to her but… I don’t think things are going to get easier for us. I’m telling you because I thought you deserved to know.” Fabian nodded, with integrity she’d never seen in him before. She would’ve loved him alright, if things had gone differently, she realised.

“I’m sorry to hear so. Thank you, for telling me.”

“I’ve missed this. Talking to you.”

“Me too.” They sat there, in silence. Andromeda looked at Fabian, waiting for some sort of sign that she shouldn’t, when she rested her head on his shoulder. Fabian did not say a word. They sighed in unison. The door opened again, and Gideon saw them there, looking out into the neverending whiteness.

“Merlin, how cheerful you look.” He sat next to Andromeda, and took her hand in his. In spite of his words, he sat in silence, and did not try to crack a joke.

“If I ever elope or run away from home,” Andromeda said, finally. “Will you be there for me?” They spoke as one.

“Of course.”


	27. mr black

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Part of this chapter is based off this text post: https://mischiefhasbeenmanaged.tumblr.com/post/177242730011/andromeda-who-cares-if-im-pretty-if-i-fail-my

Admittedly, they were not planning exclusively on studying but, when Andromeda opened the door and saw them, she did not feel the slightest bit of hypocrisy when she gasped and said:

“Gideon!” Her tone was disapproving, and her eyes were wide with surprise. Ted blushed all shades of red and averted his eyes from what the room held inside. Gideon, his shirt open, and Diana McKinnon, her shirt almost unbuttoned. Gideon laughed, and Diana buttoned her shirt in a haste, blushing. “Isn’t there anywhere in the Gryffindor common room for you to… have more privacy?” Andromeda asked, still shocked. She had never imagined Gideon in such a compromising situation. It was like catching Bellatrix making out with Rodolphus: gross and wrong—well, not really, Bellatrix and Rodolphus were much more revolting, she wasn’t even happy for them. At least she was happy that Gideon wasn’t dwelling on Podmore. Diana nodded in their direction and left the room as quickly as she could. Once she’d left, Ted looked at Gideon with disbelief. Gideon was about to do the same, but Andromeda stalled him. “I thought you liked blokes?”

“It seems I like girls, too. It’s better, really. Now everyone has an equally fair shot at romancing me.” Andromeda made a face.

“No one will want to get with you if you say ‘romancing’.”

“Diana does not seem to mind,” he shrugged, smiling smugly. Andromeda looked at him like he was an idiot, pouting, and pushed him out of the classroom. He left with a smirk on his face.

“That was wild.”

“Remind me to never try and find an empty classroom in another floor but the dungeons.”

“Noted.”

 

The closer their O.W.L.s got, the more Andromeda seemed to be losing it. Luckily for her, she was not the only one. Rose was twice as stressed as she was and even Juno—who was usually the most relaxed out of the three—could be seen sitting with them, surrounded by books in the common room, when she was not in Quidditch practice. The seventh years were losing their heads over their N.E.W.T.s. As a result, Bellatrix was also often at the common room, but she dared not speak to her sister, and vice versa. She did not seem to be particularly stressed about her N.E.W.T.s, however. One afternoon, Narcissa—who spent her afternoons brushing her hair and making eye contact with Malfoy across the room—noticed Andromeda stressing out and tried to calm her down.

“Dromeda, you’re beautiful enough to take it easier, relax.” Andromeda looked at her like she was mad.

“Who cares if I’m pretty if I fail my O.W.L.s!” Narcissa was confused. Andromeda had completely missed the point. Thankfully, the exams came soon enough though and, in the blink of an eye, the school year was over, and they were heading home. On the ride home, for a blessed moment, Andromeda and Ted were left alone in the compartment. They dared not sit next to each other, in case someone came back unexpectedly, but they relaxed a little, and they smiled to each other, openly.

“Are you still worried about how you did? I’m sure you did great.”

“Of course  _ you _ did great, Ted. I’m not so sure about myself. We’ll see.” She looked out the window for a second. “I got a letter a few weeks ago but with all the stress of the O.W.L.s I forgot to tell you. My uncle wants to meet you.” Ted blinked, wondering if he’d heard her correctly.

“Your uncle?”

“Yeah, I imagine Sirius might be there as well.”

“I thought everyone in your family ignored my existence.”

“Not uncle Alphard, of course.”

“ _ Of course _ .” She giggled.

“My uncle is the motor of my rebellion. He’s awesome. He let me visit muggle London for the first time, he’s the one who gave me money for Hogsmeade when I was grounded for taking Muggle Studies… if it weren’t for him, meeting you last summer would’ve been impossible.”

“Should I be scared? Is he going to threaten me?”

“Uncle Alphard?” She laughed. “I think he’s just curious. I’m sure he’s harmless. I’ll send you an owl with the details, but you should arrive via the Floo Network.”

“Andromeda, I’m muggleborn. My home is not connected to the Network.” Andromeda felt stupid. She kept forgetting Ted’s background and life out of Hogwarts were quite different from hers.

“Do you live near anyone with a working fireplace?”

“I guess I could pay Demie a visit.”

 

For the first time in a few summers, they were to have dinner at aunt Walburga’s. Andromeda could barely remember what Grimmauld Place looked like. She knew Black Garden was much more beautiful, her mother had decorated it much livelier than a Black would’ve. Andromeda didn’t know the occasion the dinner was being celebrated for but, whatever it was, she doubted knowing would make it more enjoyable. As soon as she stepped out of the fireplace, she greeted her aunt Walburga and uncle Orion. It was incredible, but her aunt liked to be called by her name, she was quite proud of it.

“Aunt Walburga, uncle.” She nodded politely.

“You’re looking skinny, Andromeda. You should consider eating more.” There it was. There wasn’t a single time her aunt couldn’t spot a flaw to criticise.

“Surely, aunt Walburga. If you excuse me, I’ll go find Sirius.” Soon enough, she was in Sirius’s room, not without noticing all the snakes in the pommels and chandeliers. She knew Blacks were fond of snake decorations, she herself owned several pieces of jewellery shaped like snakes or with snakes on them. The snakes at Grimmauld Place made her shiver, though. They looked uncannily evil and dangerous. The house-elves heads on the staircase wall had frightened her half to death. She’d forgotten they were there. Grimmauld Place was creepy, alright. Black Garden was much better illuminated, and there were lighter colours on the walls. Bone was her mother’s favourite color for backgrounds of patterns and walls. The decorative snakes were elegant and graceful, instead of frightening. Black Garden was a lot like a Neoclassical palace, although she was sure it hadn’t always looked so. She saw Sirius spread on his bed and she let herself fall beside him, staring at the ceiling. Sirius had a red handkerchief on his hand, probably wondering if he really had to put it on.

“If they try to marry me to Rabastan, promise me you’ll marry me instead.” She told Sirius. “That way we can see whomever we want on the side, and we’ll have a terribly disappointing and scandalous life, full of fun parties and none of this senseless etiquette.”

“You’re on. That way I can have a motorcycle.”

“I will be able to date Ted.”

“Yeah, I won’t disown you for that.” They smiled faintly for a minute.

“Your house sucks, I’d forgotten how gloomy it is.”

“Tell me about it, I actually live here.”

“If we marry we’ll buy a muggle house with lots of light and a big garden, I’m sick of rich-looking houses.”

“I want a swing in the backyard.”

“We’ll get two swings. And a fridge.”

“What’s that?”

“A muggle machine that keeps food cold and makes it last longer.”

“Cool.”

“Oh, and a pool.”

“You’re damn right we’ll have a pool.”

“What’s for dinner?”

“You won’t like it.”

“How do you know?”

“Because my mother chose it. It’s bound to suck.” Andromeda blinked. The older Sirius got, she became more and more surprised at how different he was from her family, from  _ his _ family. She felt rather guilty at times, she’d begun pinning him against her aunt since he’d been very young. Then again, he seemed to dislike his mother out of his own accord. She felt for him, he was even more rebellious and wild than she was, he must’ve felt trapped in that house. She feared he’d get sick of it too soon. What if she was in a position in which she could no longer take care of him, should he get in trouble?

“Sirius?” He turned to her. His grey eyes sparkled with interest.

“Please tell me you have exciting news.” She grinned.

“I don’t know how exciting, but uncle Alphard invited Ted over, and I thought you could come as well.”

“I’m meeting your boyfriend?” He was careful to speak on a low voice, he had enough experience about what could be said aloud and what not.

“Would you like to?”

“It would make this the most exciting summer yet.” As it turned out, the dinner was simply because they had the time and money, which made it even more unbearable

 

Alphard was sipping tea when his niece came in from the fireplace. The first time she’d done so, he’d not been expecting her. She’d always been more warm-hearted and more caring than his other nieces. He’d never expected her to show any further interest in him, though. She’d appeared in his fireplace, eyes bright and curious, her head buzzing with questions. He’d soon realised her rapidly growing discomfort with what being a Black comprised. She was too upright, her nature too kind to take the good with the bad. She could not bring herself to live up to the  _ Toujours Pur _ . Since that first visit, she’d picked his curiosity, as well as his affection. He began sincerely caring for her happiness and well-being. He often wondered what kind of woman she’d grow up to be. When he’d met that Prewett child, he thought that would be it. She’d fall in love with a gentle pureblood with whom her life wouldn’t be miserable, but that her family would also accept. Then she’d dropped the bomb. Dating a muggleborn. The longer she was with him, the more curious he grew about the boy. Was he strong? Was he trustworthy? Was he talented? ...could he possibly take care of Andromeda if he caused her to lose everything? Did he understand what it could mean for Andromeda if they stayed together? He looked at his niece, she was as charming as ever. She was in a blood-red dress, excitement in her face.

“Hi there, Andromeda.” She beamed and, right after, a grey-eyed face that mimicked her excitement appeared next to her. “Sirius. You’re meeting Andromeda’s boyfriend as well?”

“Of course. I got to make sure he’s good enough to be dating Andy.” They took seats next to his uncle, and he poured them tea.

“You’re gonna love him. He’s very charming. A little messy, though. Wouldn’t trust him to keep the biscuits’ crumbles on his plate.” Sirius grinned, he was beginning to like him already. Just then, the fireplace was invaded one last time. Ted Tonks was standing there, looking slightly nervous. He was wearing jeans, a white shirt and a yellow bomber jacket. They all stood up. Andromeda was ready to hug him, she’d missed him so much but, to her surprise, he turned first to her uncle.

“Hello, Mr. Black, I’m Ted Tonks. Your niece has told me loads about you.” He shook his hand, and Alphard took him in, contemplatively.

“Call me Alphard, Ted. Likewise, Andromeda has told me quite a bit about you.” Andromeda was ready to receive her hug, but Ted then turned to Sirius. She was both touched and annoyed by the gesture. Sirius, of course, was very happy about it.

“Hello, Sirius. Andromeda tells me you’re her favourite cousin.” Sirius rolled his eyes.

“Well, it’s not like I have much competition.” Finally, he turned to Andromeda, as the rest sat back at the table. Andromeda hugged him tightly, for the briefest second forgetting they were not alone, burying her face in his shoulder, breathing him in. She kissed him on the cheek, affectionately, and took his hand in hers. She led him to the table, and gestured him to sit next to her. Alphard poured him a cup of tea and placed it in front of him.

“So, Ted, what do your parents do?” Ted took a sip of his cup of tea before replying.

“My dad is a veterinarian, my mum is a nursery school teacher.” Andromeda turned to him.

“I didn’t know your mother worked at a nursery school.” Ted smiled fondly.

“She does, she loves small children. She would’ve loved to have more children but, sadly, my dad and she had a lot of trouble getting pregnant. I almost didn’t make it. She had complication during the second trimester, thought she’d have another miscarriage.”

“Funny the only son she manages to give birth to turns out to be a wizard.” Alphard commented.

“Indeed. She thought she was seeing things when she saw me making leaves float around one autumn. She and my dad even thought for a while I might be possessed.” Alphard chuckled.

“Muggles have such funny ways to interpret magic.”

“Did they try to have you exorcised?” Sirius asked, expectantly.

“No, my dad said if I were truly dangerous, our pets would avoid me. So they made peace with my curiosities. When the Hogwarts letter arrived, my mother was a little scared. Her father was a Catholic, and she thought it might offend God to have me learn and practise sorcery. My dad finally talked her into letting me go.”

“You have pets? I’ve always wanted a dog, but my bitter mother says they’re smelly noisy creatures.”

“It’s better that way, imagine what she would treat the poor animal like if you had one.” Andromeda shuddered.

“My dear sister has never been fond of anything alive.”

“She must surely love her sons,” Ted thought aloud, but his comment only cause Alphard, Andromeda, and Sirius to roar with laughter.

“Good one,” Sirius said, near tears. Once Ted had left, Alphard sat back down with his niece, a serious expression on his face.

“He’s very charming, indeed.” He admitted. “Andromeda, are you sure you know what you’re doing?” Andromeda shrugged.

“Do any of us really know what we’re doing?” Her uncle sighed.

“You know, Andromeda, many years ago I fell in love with someone my father did not approve of. I was afraid of what my family would do to me if I went against their wishes, so I ended the relationship.”

“Why didn’t he approve?”

“The person I loved could not give me any heirs.” He paused for a moment, his eyes sparkling with nostalgia. Alphard had loved very deeply, with the kind of love that scars and never really fades. “Sometimes, I wish I had been braver, I wish I had not let my father get to me… my point is, Andromeda, and Sirius, you too, if you ever need to make a decision that might turn your family against you, do count with my support.”

“Thank you, uncle,” said Andromeda, smiling sweetly. “I truly do appreciate it.”


	28. sixth year

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had to make a big edit, I realised too late Sturgis Podmore could have started studying in Hogwarts in 1967 at the earliest, so there wasn't a chance that he could've been in the same year as Andromeda and Gideon. So, I have replaced him with an OC, his brother, Page Podmore. I apologise for the mistake and the inconvenience.

Andromeda was pleased when she opened her Hogwarts letter and found out that she had gotten far more O.W.L.s than expected. Her mother had congratulated her, her expression impassive, as ever, but her eyes gleaming with pride for the first time in a long time. She could’ve sworn she saw her father’s lips curve into half a smirk. She’d gotten an O in Charms, Defence Against the Dark Arts, and Potions. An E in Transfiguration, Herbology, Astronomy, Muggle Studies, and Ancient Runes. Finally, and to her considerable surprise, she’d even gotten an A in History of Magic, a subject she’d never paid much heed to. The total of nine O.W.L.s and no subject failed was a first one, her sister Bellatrix had failed every subject that didn’t catch her interest, even though Andromeda knew she was perfectly capable enough to have passed more O.W.L.s had she actually cared enough. She began her year with a happy spirit, knowing fully well that her desire of becoming a Healer was now far more than wishful thinking. Ted had done splendidly as well: ten O.W.L.s, and Os in Care of Magical Creatures, Defence Against the Dark Arts, Transfiguration, and Herbology. He’d grown even more since the last time she’d seen him. _Will he ever stop?_ She’d thought. Gideon had done great as well, eight O.W.L.s and two Os. Rose had achieved ten O.W.L.s and five Os, whereas Juno’d gotten seven, and two Os. This much had Andromeda learnt during her first day back at the castle. She felt more lightweight when, during the Welcoming Feast, she realised her sister Bellatrix wasn’t around to track her movements anymore. She’d bought Narcissa’s silence, and there was no reason why she should hide her relationship with Ted. Her housemates might not like it, but they weren’t snitches either, they wouldn’t write to her parents to tell them she was dating a mudblood. So, after the Welcoming Feast had ended, she intercepted Ted on her way out of the Great Hall.

“Hey, Dromeda. We have patrolling duty together, I guess I’ll see you later?” Andromeda, however, wasn’t interested in small talk. She grabbed Ted by his tie and kissed him in the middle of the Entrance Hall, students flooding around and past them. Ted was taken aback with surprise, but responded her kiss with enthusiasm, feeling his chest expand with happiness.

“I’ve always wanted to do that,” Andromeda admitted.

“Shouldn’t be laying low? I know Bellatrix is no longer around, but what about Quidditch? You might get benched again.” Andromeda shrugged.

“Rabastan is team captain this year. I’m benched whether I kiss you or not, and I rather kiss you.” He beamed, took her hand and walked by her side like he’d wanted to all that time. They separated at the basement, where Andromeda had to go down yet another flight of stairs to get to her common room. She kissed him before leaving, and Ted thought he could get used to that. Outside of her common room, Rose was fighting with Fate. Andromeda did not mean to eavesdrop, but they were screaming and it was impossible not to hear their fight as she walked past them.

“I can’t believe you would do such a thing!” Fate said, in tears.

“I can’t say I’m sorry, Fate. I really like her, I know I should’ve ended things with you before but… breaking up through owl is petty. I thought you deserved a face-to-face break up.”

“So what? So you could tell me you cheated on me with Noel during the summer?”

“When you put it like that you make me sound much worse than I am—” inside the common room, Andromeda went straight to her dormitory, where Juno shot her a look of urgency.

“Did you catch the fight outside?” She asked, excitedly. She had her brown hair up in a bun, and her straight long nose made her look regal. She wondered if that was what Diggle liked about her.

“Yeah, seemed pretty intense. Rose was both cool and cold in the way she told Fate she’d cheated on her.”

“With Hazel Noel, no less. What is it with all of you smitten by Hufflepuffs?” Andromeda shrugged.

“They care.”

 

The first time she’d felt it, that pull in her abdomen, she’d been too young to understand it. She understood it all too well now. It was different from the fluttering, cheek-burning feeling of liking someone, and different from the warm, soothing sensation of having your feelings corresponded. She knew well the peaceful feeling of intertwining fingers and tracing Ted’s hand with her thumb. This other sensation, on the other hand, was a fire, it crept up her veins slowly, and took over her every pore and nervous receptor. She’d felt it making out with Fabian a couple times. She was getting all too familiar with it now she was with Ted. In empty classrooms, after many kisses; in the kitchens, when he baked pastries for her. Her breath got shaky and her skin warm. Andromeda was floating in the huge pool in the prefects’ bathroom, empty but for her, thinking about it. She was the last one to get to use it during the girls’ turn. She liked the quiet. Ted, who’d been practicing with his Quidditch team until late, made for the prefects’ bathroom, thinking it was too late for anyone to be using it and hoping for some time to relax. She was looking at the mermaid in the painting in front of her, sleeping and looking a lot like Narcissa while doing so. She heard someone walk in and turned to see who it was. Ted’s face was red, and he was looking away from her.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t know you were here. I thought it was empty, I’ll come back later.” Andromeda felt it again, that pull, that heat. Her voice was steady when she spoke, in spite of her trembling heart.

“Why don’t you stay?” Ted was so surprised he forgot to avert his eyes and turned his head to look at her. The foam was thick, but her bare shoulders and wet hair made his heart pound so strongly, he thought she could definitely hear it.

“What do you mean?”

“Take a bath with me.” Ted’s eyes widened, but he did not leave. Andromeda turned around and stared at the water, uninterestedly. He took off his Quidditch robes, leaving a messy pile on the floor, and he slid into the pool, careful not to make any sudden movements. Andromeda felt a hand on her shoulder and her heart beating in her ears. She turned to look at Ted, whose eyes were full of that other emotion—love—she was so scared of. But she wanted it. He swallowed, trying to make his brain work properly enough for speech.

“Dromeda, are you sure about this?” His voice was shaky and slightly hoarse. She liked that. She swam around him, to stand behind him. She did not reply, but began carefully and tenderly rubbing his back, washing the practice sweat off of him. He relaxed and let her do so, memorising the sensation of her soap-slippery hands rubbing him clean. She stopped, suddenly, and hugged him, overtly aware of his bare body against her skin.

“I am very sure. I’m also sure my mother wouldn’t approve of this.”

“You don’t want this just because of that, right?” She felt his ribs shaking as he spoke, his chest expanding and shrinking with every breath. Her head resting on his back, she could hear his heart beating fast. There was liking, there was loving, there was want. She wanted him, she was certain.

“I want you because you’re you, Ted Tonks.” He turned on his feet and, the second they were face to face, he kissed her. Ted’s hands were kind, and under his touch she felt cherished. Andromeda thought her heart would leave her chest, but it didn’t. She later hoped it would, when she realised it was not only want there was in her heart.

 

She was waiting outside the castle’s gates. She’d grown rapidly used to the renewed flutter of her heart every time she saw Ted. It was developing into an ever present calm, a certain conviction and, even though she tried to deny it, she felt it burning her throat, trying to escape her. Ted showed up, wrapped up in a thick scarf, wearing the gloves she’d given him in their third year. She, on her turn, was wearing the entire assortment of clothes the Prewetts had knit her. She beamed at him. Ted was incredibly happy to see her, too. The longer they were together, the more hopeful he got that Andromeda wouldn’t discard him as soon as they graduated Hogwarts.

“Happy birthday!” She kissed him on the lips, and he then kissed her cheek, tenderly. It was a busy Sunday, the school rarely allowed them to visit Hogsmeade the entire weekend, and the students were taking full advantage of it. A rare late snowfall had left Hogsmeade covered by a white squishy blanket, and Andromeda and Ted walked in silence. She liked those silences full of understanding. They visited Honeydukes first. Andromeda bought a pack of Fizzing Whizzbees, and they discovered the incredible sensation of kissing each other while floating. It was exhilarating. With wide smiles, they sat down at The Three Broomsticks, both on the same side of the table. When their butterbeers arrived, she took out a small package.

“I hope you like it.” He took the package and opened it messily. “Well there goes recycling.” She said, when she saw him tearing through the paper without any care. He wasn’t listening to her. He was too busy admiring his gift.

“Dromeda, you shouldn’t have. These things are expensive.” He pulled a camera out of the box.

“You know I don’t have to worry about money. Anyway, I thought you might like it. You can use developing solution to get the photographs to move.” She placed her hand on top of his. “It reminded me of you. A muggle thing that with magic turns into something wonderful. Happy seventeenth birthday, Ted.” He stared into her eyes for a second, then kissed her.

“Thank you, Dromeda.” He brushed her cheek with the back of his hand in earnest affection. “I love you.” She kissed his hand, but didn’t say the words back. Her throat ached the rest of the day, and it was hard to swallow. Ted took what seemed like a thousand photographs of her, she kept laughing whenever he pulled his camera out for another. Sixth year was one of the fondest memories Andromeda would have of her time in Hogwarts. The general excitement about her new classes: Apparition, Ancient Studies, and Alchemy; and the time she spent with Ted would forever be with her, as well as the many pictures Ted took with his camera.


	29. found out

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I keep making stupid mistakes haha, I just had to edit the grades of everyone's O.W.L.s because I mistook the highest mark (O) for E, so I fixed that.

The Tonks’s residence was a very cosy, very muggle home. It had a big lawn overflowing with unchecked grass and flowers, and two dogs that jumped excitedly when they caught sight of Andromeda. On a window in the first floor, a fluffy cat napped. Ted’s mother, Vanessa, was a small, sweet-looking woman. She received Andromeda with a hug, in the most motherly manner Andromeda had ever known.

“Hello, Andromeda. How lovely it is to finally meet you.” She was wearing an almost neon orange apron, which contrasted strongly with her gentle blue eyes. “Philip is at work, but he’ll be home for dinner. Come in, Ted’s helping me with lunch.” The kitchen was richly illuminated by sunlight, several windows saw to it. Ted was wearing an equally blinding green apron, as he cut vegetables into thin slices for the sandwiches. “Ted, your girlfriend is here.” He raised his eyes from the cutting board in front of him, and Andromeda felt her throat tighten again. His features were looking much more defined than they had before the summer, he looked so adult-like, her stomach lurched. He smiled broadly, and crossed the kitchen in three wide steps to kiss her on the cheek and hug her tightly. She hugged him back with a heavy heart. She had news she hadn’t wanted to put into writing. Things weren’t looking good for wizards and witches like Ted. Bellatrix had joined the Death Eaters, Lord Voldemort’s followers, and the things Andromeda had heard her say over the summer only filled her with worry for Ted.

“Hi, Dromeda. Can’t believe it’s been only three weeks since the summer holidays began. It’s felt like months.” Andromeda nodded.

“I’ve missed you, too.”

“Well, Andromeda dear, how about you join me for a cup of tea in the backyard while Ted here finishes cooking?”

“I would love to.” Vanessa grinned broadly, her nose wrinkling in the same way Ted’s did. She handed Andromeda a couple of teacups and they set the table outside. It was a nice summer day, sunny but breezy. The backyard also had the messy look of the front lawn, like a miniature jungle was taking over it. Vanessa poured her a cup of tea, and Andromeda stared curiously, noticing all the ways she and Ted were similar. Her eyes were the same shade of blue Ted’s eyes turned to sometimes. Her hair was richly gold, falling into gracious curls. The summer sun had lightly bronzed her skin, and the years under the sun had graced her with a few freckles. There was a certain way to her mannerisms that would’ve most certainly made Andromeda mistake her for a witch if she saw her walking down the street, and her teeth were white and very straight. She was, in short, a very beautiful woman.

“I hear your family is not very fond of Ted.” She cut to the chase immediately, no unnecessary roundabouts. Andromeda smiled apologetically, not knowing very well how to answer.

“I am very fond of him myself. I would suppose that’s what matters and, for what is worth, my uncle thinks very highly of him.” Vanessa’s features softened, and her lips curved into a rather sad grin.

“I know, sweetie. I’m not trying to imply you don’t, I just—Ted cares about you a lot, and he is very aware that the two of you may not be forever. I just wanted to ask you that, should the time come that you have to break up with him, let him down gently. His heart is very soft, he might take it too hard.”

“Mrs Tonks, I think you’ve mistaken your son for someone less strong. I believe that, should the time come I have to break us up, Ted will have broken my heart ten times more than I will have broken his.”

“He does leave quite a mark,” she agreed. “But you know, don’t break up with him if you can avoid it, I know coming from his mother might not seem like much, but he’s a keeper.”

“I know, although I don’t see what his Quidditch position has to do with any of this.” Ted had walked in with the sandwiches at ‘he’s a keeper’ and began laughing loudly at Andromeda’s response.

“It’s a muggle saying, Dromeda,” he said between chuckles. “It means someone’s a really good catch.” After lunch, they climbed up the stairs towards Ted’s room, followed by a ‘Leave the door open!’ from Vanessa. Ted’s room was, delicately put, a mess.

“Oh sweet Merlin, Ted. What the bloody hell.” He felt slightly attacked, he’d tidied up a bit (picked up the dirty clothes off the floor) because she was coming over. Still, there were books scattered around the floor, pieces of parchment all over his desk. His bed was made in a rush, the duvet all wrinkly, and the memorabilia on the wall (a couple of Puddlemere United banners and photos, a couple of Brighton & Hove Albion posters, and several Hufflepuff banners and flags) were all crooked and placed without any specific arrangement. The walls were of a pale blue, and had scratches and stains every here and there. Old glow-in-the-dark stars were stuck to the ceiling, and a polystyrene planetary system united by pieces of metallic string hung near the window. Several plastic soldiers and aeroplanes cluttered the bookshelves, and even an old flat football—she was very proud to know what it was—rested among them.

“It’s been worse, you know?” Andromeda felt like that would be even more of an eyesore, and shuddered.

“Remember that time you told me you would have to marry someone who hasn’t taken Potions with you?” She said, as she got closer to the posters on the walls to have a better look.

“You know I was just kidding—”

“You should make sure whomever you want to marry hasn’t seen your room, either.” He chuckled, getting closer to hug her from behind. She was looking at his bedside table, where two pictures of her and a picture of the two of them smiled merrily back at her. He kissed her neck, and she stroke his hand absentmindedly. “Ted, I have bad news.” He tensed ever so slightly, but his voice was calm.

“Well, go on then.”

“Bellatrix has joined the Death Eaters.” He relaxed, it wasn’t what he’d feared.

“Are they those… those fanatics?” She sighed heavily.

“Yes, they are Lord Voldemort’s followers. You know, five more people have disappeared during this past year. I’m worried. What if they come for you?”

“Then I’m lucky I’m getting a Defence Against the Dark Arts N.E.W.T., and my girlfriend has a Magical Aid Certification.” She turned around, her expression filled with heartache.

“I’m serious, Ted.”

“I’m serious too, Dromeda.” He put a lock of her hair behind her ear. “I can’t worry about things that haven’t happened yet. If they happen, I can’t despair, either. There has to be a way to defend myself. I’m not gonna disappear without putting up a fight.” He kissed her cheek. “I’ll survive this, you’ll see.” They went back downstairs soon after, and sat in the living room, chatting merrily. After dinner, during which Philip had shown himself highly interested in wizarding families and fantastic beasts, Andromeda left from their fireplace, which had been recently connected to the Floo Network, as Ted was of age. Her uncle Alphard had a worried expression when she appeared back in Ainshen Manor.

“Your mother is looking for you.”

“Oh no.”

“Oh yes.”

“It was Cissy, wasn’t it?”

“I’m afraid she was. I told her I didn’t know where you were to let you enjoy your time there, but I can take full responsibility if you want me to.”

“No, I’m soon gonna turn seventeen. I have to own up to my actions.”

“Good luck, Andromeda.” She grabbed some more Floo Powder and went back to Black Garden. In front of the fireplace, her entire family waited for her. She was relieved to see her aunt Walburga wasn’t there. It would’ve been much worse if she had been.

“Explain,” Druella demanded. Her expressionlessness made her look all the more menacing now. Her father was sitting, looking grim. Bellatrix had a smug grin in her face, while Narcissa sat looking down, guiltily.

“What do you want me to say? I’m sure Cissy has already told you all you wanted to know.” She shot her an angry look, the sting of betrayal all too fresh to tone down her disappointment. She knew Narcissa had thought she was doing it in her best interest, but right then she could only feel anger and pain.

“I can’t believe your uncle would stand by such foolishness.”

“He has nothing to do with this. I lied to him as well, he must be feeling pretty betrayed right now, too.” Her mother took a deep breath.

“Andromeda Callidora Black, are you saying that everything else your sister told us is true? You are dating a mudblood? You went to visit him and his muggle family today?”

“Yes.”

“Mother, I’d love to show that mudblood what happens to those who dare mess with The Noble and Most Ancient House of Black,” Bellatrix intervened.

“Stay out of this, Bella, this between your sister, your father, and I” Druella hissed. “Andromeda, you are to finish this nonsense immediately. If this gets any further and your aunt gets word… we’ll have no choice but to disown you. You hear me?” Andromeda frowned at her mother’s use of words. She was perfectly certain they would disown her all the same, whether her aunt knew or not. Her mother was more sensible than her aunt, that was true, but she was still a cold-hearted fanatic, just like her father. Cygnus shifted in his seat. His face, full of displeasure, gave place to disappointment to say the first words ever to her daughter that weren’t only ‘Toujours Pur’. His voice was flat, he didn’t raise it in the slightest.

“We have secured your betrothal to Rabastan Lestrange. You will write him one loving letter per week, and you will marry him as soon as you have graduated.”

“I won’t marry Rabastan, he’s a lunatic. I bet he’s already joined Bellatrix’s club of fanatics. They make us look bad, father.”

“Toujours Pur, Andromeda. Better to be one of Lord Voldemort’s followers than dating a mudblood. Be certain, you  _ will _ marry Rabastan Lestrange, even if I have to kill that mudblood myself.” Andromeda stood her ground, defiant, but in her heart she was scared. Alone in her room at night, she cried herself to sleep.


	30. about time

Andromeda felt her heart sunk even more when Ted walked into the prefects’ compartment with a wide smile. She didn’t have the heart to do what she had to do just yet, so she simply smiled back, and changed seats with Demeter so she could hold his hand on their way to the castle.

“Guess what?” Ted pulled a badge off his pocket, excitedly. “I’m Head Boy!” Andromeda felt a knot forming in her throat.

“That’s great, Ted! Congratulations.”

“Yeah, I have to go talk to the new prefects, but I’ll be right back.” Dorcas, who’d just reached the compartment, gave Ted an annoyed look.

“You had to be at the new prefects’ compartment five minutes ago, Ted!” She turned to the rest of the prefects in the compartment. “I’m Head Girl! Can you believe it?” They congratulated her, and soon Ted and she had gone.

“What is troubling you, Andy?” Demeter asked, once Gates was on rounds. “You don’t look too cheerful Ted’s Head Boy.”

“It’s not that. I’m very happy for him, it’s just that—”

“You’re breaking up with him, aren’t you?”

“How did you know?”

“Well, you’re a Black. I never expected you and Ted to be together forever. I knew he could date you if he wanted but, after Hogwarts? Things would be different. You’ll have to make a marriage that’s acceptable in your family’s eyes.” She looked down.

“I really care about Ted. I don’t want to break up with him.”

“Don’t worry. He’ll understand. He knew this would come eventually.”

When Andromeda had to go on rounds, she took advantage of it to visit Gideon in his compartment. Unfortunately, she walked in on him making out with Richard Hardy. She only sighed, she’d grown only too accustomed to walk in on Gideon making out with someone.

“I can’t believe I saved your sorry arse to walk in on you making out with my best friend, Hardy.” He blushed, slightly embarrassed. “I need to talk to him, do you think you could leave us alone for a while?” He nodded and left. “You’ve got to stop this, Gid. It’s gross. I will need to be Obliviated to erase the image of you making out with people.”

“I must look very hot.” He grinned, and pulled her into a brotherly hug. “How are you, Andy? Your letter was very anxious-looking. It was the first time your handwriting wasn’t perfectly neat.”

“I don’t wanna break up with him, Gid.”

“Fabian will be very happy if you do. He still carries a torch for you, you know. Even though he’s dating that Lloyd girl at the moment, long distance.” Andromeda didn’t seem surprised to hear that.

“How is Fabe doing?”

“He’s working with dragons in Romania right now, I think.”

“Wow. I didn’t think he was interested in them.”

“Me neither. I think he just wanted to get away from everything for a while, if you ask me.”

“I hope he finds what he’s looking for.”

“Onto another subject, Molly has decided what to name her baby! William. How wild she’s having children already, isn’t it?”

“Yeah! She wrote me a letter a few months ago, she’s got almost three months to go yet, right?”

“Yes. She and Arthur are very excited. She’s gotten huge. We should visit over Christmas to meet the baby.” Andromeda looked down.

“I don’t think I’ll be able to, for the same reasons I have to break up with Ted.”

“You know, Andromeda, it may not look like it, but you do have a choice. Whatever you decide, of course, I’ll have your back.”

“Thank you, Gid. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

 

The air was chilly in the Owlery, but at least Andromeda knew that no one would walk in on them, not that late. They were supposed to be on patrol duty, Ted with Dorcas—now that they were Head Boy and Girl, they had to patrol together—she with Lovegood. But they’d made an excuse to meet there, per Andromeda’s request.

“You look worried, Dromeda. Ever since the first day you’ve been off. I thought you’d tell me when you were ready, but you’ve been awfully quiet these past few weeks. What’s upsetting you?”

“Ted, I’m betrothed to Rabastan.” Ted went very quiet, he knew perfectly well what was going on now. She was breaking up with him. Knowing that moment would come didn’t make it any less painful.

“But you don’t have to marry him until the summer, right? We can still be together until then, and we can figure something out. Dromeda, I know you have a lot to consider, but consider that I love you, too.”

“Ted it’s not just that. My family’s a sucky family, but they’re the only family that I have.” She sighed, hating that she was lying.. “I care about them in spite of myself.” He took her hands, his eyes full of tears, no shame in showing vulnerability.

“Dromeda, I can be your family, if you let me.” She was crying, too, and felt the full force of her feelings at his words, finally ready to tell him the truth, that she’d made up her mind, she’d protect him.

“You don’t understand. I’m putting you in danger. Bellatrix has put a target on your back because of me, and my father spoke to me for the first time in years to tell me something other than ‘toujours pur’ and it was that he’d kill you, if that’s what it took.” She placed her hands on his cheeks. “I care too much about you to put you in any risk. I’d rather break up with you and marry Rabastan than see you hurt. Mind you, I’ll never marry Rabastan.” She chuckled between tears. “I’m just trying to make a point.” He sighed, defeated.

“I understand. Do keep in mind that I don’t care about the risks, and that I’ll wait for you, at least until you date someone else. I do have some pride but, I’ll make it aside for you, if you find it in you to take me back.” She nodded, she really hoped that she could, but she doubted it.

 

Her N.E.W.T.s felt breezy after she had buried herself in study to avoid thinking or seeing or talking to Ted. She’d also been permitted to play in her House’s team again, allowing her for something else to take her mind off him. They still had Potions together, but Ted was kind and did not try to plead for them to get back, nor did he try and flirt with her. The last week was bittersweet, saying goodbye to everyone and everything, knowing those were the last times in the castle. Their last visit to Hogsmeade, last classes, last time seeing this and that professor—Madam Hypnos cried when she bid her goodbye—, last time they would ever attend the End-of-Term feast, last time she’d hear professor Dumbledore announce the winner of the House Cup. Everything was so melancholic she didn’t even feel as happy as she should’ve that Slytherin had won. She wrote on her housemates’ yearbooks, packed her things, and got on the Hogwarts Express. Sitting on the compartment, she went through the yearbook one more time. She and Ted had been chosen best couple in spite of their recent break up (they had been one of the few same-year relationships), and she had to look at their smiling faces on the book, not knowing if she’d ever feel as happy again. There were three extra pages dedicated to Ted (McGonagall’s favourite, Head Boy, and best Keeper of the season), and she traced his photographs with her index finger, longingly. She closed it as soon as Ted entered the compartment. Yearbooks went around, and they drank butterbeer and told anecdotes on their way back home. Dorcas (Head Girl, best smile, and cool mum), said she had plans to become an Auror, and Caradoc (best hair, and Kettleburn’s favourite) said he would be also applying to become one. Demeter (best style, best hair, and best voice) said she was hoping to land a good job at a radio company, she wanted to become a singer.

She hugged Gideon (best beater, best smile, and heartbreaker) tightly before leaving the train, she knew it’d be a while before they saw each other again. She also hugged Rose (Slughorn’s favourite, and heartbreaker) and Juno (best seeker, best eyes, and best gossip) heartily, they had made it much easier for her to fall in love with her House. They promised to meet during the summer, maybe go on a trip. When she’d gotten off the train, she was unable to see her family in the crowd. She opened her yearbook to review some of the messages people had left her, while she waited for the platform to clear a little. Ted’s message caught her by surprise. It was on their ‘best couple’ page. His handwriting was as neat as he would never be himself.

> Andromeda means “the ruler of men”, did you know? I think it’s very fitting, as you’re the ruler of my heart.
> 
> Love, Ted

She then caught sight of her father, waiting impatiently. Narcissa, hand in hand with Lucius, was already by his side. Bellatrix was with them, too, next to their mother. Andromeda felt her heart break as she made her way towards them, and turned around to take one last look at the Hogwarts Express. That was when she saw him, getting off the train, a warm smile in his face as he talked to Demeter. He lifted his eyes, and she saw him looking for her. When he found her, he smiled fondly, he seemed to hold no grudges against her. She stopped dead in her tracks, and hesitated for a second. She looked at her family, they all seemed tired of waiting for her, then back at Ted.

“Oh, fuck this.” She turned around, cart and all. The Blacks were too astonished to react. Andromeda walked up to Ted, as quickly as she could, and kissed him in front of everyone. The Blacks, who’d begun wondering what the hell was going on, were stunned again by the sight of Andromeda kissing the mudblood. Ted kissed her back, his chest expanding with unprecedented happiness. They parted sharing the same dumbfounded smile.

“I thought you didn’t want to put me in danger.” Andromeda was crying all of a sudden, the smile still stuck to her lips.

“I thought I could stay away from you, but I can’t, Ted. I love you.” She sobbed with the relief she felt of finally saying how she felt. She’d tried to deny it, to push it deep down, keep it in… she’d hurt herself in the process. She wouldn’t lie to herself anymore. “I love you too much.” Ted thought he was dreaming, grinning like it was Christmas morning. It was all too perfect to be true. “Let’s run away. Let’s apparate far away and be together. Will you come with me? Will you marry me, Ted?” He passed a hand through his hair, elated, and blushing.

“Oh, man. I’ve been planning to propose to you for months, I can’t believe you beat me to it.” Andromeda laughed between tears, ignoring completely the fact that her family had gone back to their senses and were approaching them at a fast pace.

“You were planning to propose?”

“ANDROMEDA CALLIDORA BLACK,” Cygnus yelled, and their attentions turned to Andromeda’s furious father. She was sad to see that the first time her father showed he really cared what she did, was in a situation like that. She raised her wand, her other hand grabbing Ted’s, resting on her cart’s handle. They had to act quickly. Her indecision was gone. She saw Bellatrix raise her wand, her eyes showing her true self, a deranged smile on her face. She knew that if she waited around for her to cast the spell, they wouldn’t live to tell the tale. She opened her mouth, but it was too late. Ted and Andromeda were gone with a _pop!_

They apparated outside King’s Cross, shaking with excitement. Andromeda had thought she’d feel remorse, but she’d never felt more certain in her life. She was thrilled to be doing this, running away with Ted, giving her parents hell. She felt alive.

“Where to?” Ted asked, apparently as excited as she was.

“Your place. But first, let’s pay my uncle a visit.”

 

Alphard Black was playing Wizard’s Chess by himself, when his niece and her boyfriend apparated in his drawing room with a _crack_. Their carts made quite a mess, clushing with the furniture, Maia hooting indignantly. He knew immediately that was no pleasure visit.

“Well?” Andromeda grinned broadly.

“We’re eloping, uncle.” He smiled, and hugged them tightly.

“About time you did. Wait a second, I’ll come with you.” Andromeda shook her head, sadly.

“No. I need you to stay and play dumb. Someone has to look after Sirius, tell him the truth. Please.” He nodded, understandingly.

“Let me help you, then. Wait here.” She nodded, and after a minute her uncle was back with a velvety pouch. “It’s what I have on me at the moment, but I’ll arrange a deposit to your account, you’re of age now, your parents won’t be able to access it. That means you’ll probably have some money they’ve already deposited that they won’t be able to take back. Accept my contribution as an engagement present.” They nodded, he hugged his niece again. “Now, off you go. They’ll be here looking for you soon enough.”

“I’ll send you pictures of the wedding after the witchhunt dies down, so you can have them and show them to Sirius.” He nodded. “Please send me a picture of when they blast me off that damned tapestry. I’ll frame it.” He grinned.

“Keep in touch.”

“I will.” With a _pop!_ , they were gone again.


	31. tonks

Ted’s house was deserted when they apparated with their stuff, clushing with the furniture once again, Maia flipping her wings, annoyed. They took a deep breath, the adrenaline in their veins beginning to disappear. They stared at each other in disbelief. She’d done it. She’d run away with him. They had disapparated in King’s Cross with all their stuff and left her family behind. It soon struck her that they had also left Ted’s family.

“Your parents.” Andromeda said, wide-eyed.

“I’ll get Demie, she can go tell them.” He disapparated with a  _ pop! _ and Andromeda stared at the place where he’d been for a second, before getting to planning. They had to act quickly. She had to find a wedding location, somewhere to live—staying with her soon to be in-laws was out of the question. She wrote letters to the Prewetts, the Weasleys, Rose, and Juno. Once she’d watched Maia fly away, Ted apparated back in the living room.

“Are they okay?”

“Yeah, Demie found them and let them know what was going on. They’re on their way back, they’re muggles so they can’t apparate. It’ll be a while before they get back.” He winced. “Demie says my mum is pissed.” Andromeda shrugged.

“It is what it is. I wrote to some people to find us a place to get married at.” Ted grinned broadly, he’d forgotten.

“We’re getting married.”

“You were planning to propose?” She asked, remembering their previous conversation.

“I was. Months of planning to the dustbin, because you jumped the question on me.”

“You still could. I mean, we have tonight. Probably isn’t enough time for what you’d planned, but maybe you can do a scale version.”

“Yeah, maybe,” he said, like it didn’t excite him enough. “What will we do after we get married? I don’t think we can afford a honeymoon.” Andromeda grinned, like she’d been waiting for him to bring up the money issue.

“I don’t think we’ll find it easy to find a job, either. My parents are very influential people, I’m sure we’ll find several doors shutting in our faces.” Ted looked disheartened.

“I guess we can live with my parents for a while.”

“I’d rather die.” Ted looked offended, and she corrected herself. “Your parents are lovely people, Ted, it’s just that I’ve lived trapped depending on others forever. I want to live by myself for a change.”

“You just said we’ll have it hard finding jobs. How do you expect to pay for a wedding and rent?”

“Well, I expect my uncle will be giving me money to spare for a decent wedding. The house, on the other hand…” she opened her trunk and pulled out a solid silver jewellery box. Inside, several pieces of jewellery with diamonds, emeralds and sapphires shone brightly. “I think we could make enough money to start us off if I sold these, don’t you think? Seventeen years of impersonal birthday gifts will finally pay off.” Ted laughed nervously. It hit him unexpectedly how rich Andromeda had been. She’d given all that up for him. He took the jewellery box carefully off her hands and set it aside. He kissed her, because she had chosen him, she’d chosen trouble and uncertainty with him, instead of stability and luxury with her family.

When Philip and Vanessa arrived, their anger had subsided. They were very excited instead, hugging Ted and Andromeda repeatedly. They offered to pay for their wedding bands, which they accepted gladly. Vanessa had tears in her eyes the entire evening, all through dinner she kept apologising for it.

“You’re just so young,” she said. “To think my little Teddy would grow up to become a wizard and marry upon his graduation…”

“You can stay with us while you find a place of your own, of course.” Philip offered.

“Thank you, dad, but we’ve already arranged things.”

“Do you have to marry tomorrow, Teddy dear?” Said Vanessa between sobs. “We could plan a gorgeous wedding for the two of you with a little more time, have my sister come over—”

“We do,” Andromeda interrupted. “There’s a magical tapestry at my aunt’s. As long as I’m not married, Ted won’t appear in it, and they will know I remain unmarried. They’ll hunt us down and they’ll kill Ted, I am sure. I’m already putting your son at risk, if we wait any longer, things could get really bad. As soon as we’re married, they’ll blast me off the tapestry and they’ll leave us alone. I will be disowned and they’ll pretend I don’t exist.” Vanessa gasped at how horrible Andromeda’s family was, but she remained impassive. It was no shocker to her. After dinner, Maia came back with Andromeda’s replies, they were all short but also very useful and insightful.

> Dear Andy,
> 
> Blimey! Congrats! Just talked to Molly and she can house the wedding, she says she’d be honoured, although I guess she’ll write you so herself. You’ll get to meet Bill, little devil, I’m sure you’ll like him. Congratulate Ted on my behalf.
> 
> P.S. I can’t believe you didn’t ask me to be your maid of honour. You can’t ask me now, by the way, you took too long and I’ve already accepted to be Ted’s best man.
> 
> See you tomorrow!
> 
> Gideon
> 
>  
> 
> Dear Andy,
> 
> Merlin’s beard! I’m sure Gideon must’ve written you the same, but please do use The Burrow to get married, Arthur and I insist you do. He sends his congratulations, by the way. We’ll be waiting for you tomorrow. I’m so excited!
> 
> See you,
> 
> Molly
> 
>  
> 
> Dear Andy,
> 
> Congrats! I’ll be there, of course. I’ll be staying in England for a while, I’ll tell you the details at the wedding.
> 
> See you,
> 
> Fabian
> 
>  
> 
> Dear Andromeda,
> 
> I am happy for you, I truly am, but I won’t be able to be your maid of honour, or to attend your wedding at all. We’re not children anymore. Things are changing quickly, and you have to understand that my family does not approve of what you’ve done. I’m afraid we can no longer be associated with each other, or I might get in trouble. For our years-long friendship’s sake, I will keep the details of your letter a secret. I hope you lead a happy life.
> 
> Rosemond.

Andromeda felt a sting of betrayal upon Rose’s letter. She’d never expected her to do as her family and terminate their friendship. Her eyes filled with tears, but she did not spill them. Rose had been the first friend she’d made outside of her family. She’d never said anything in sixth year, when she kissed Ted in front of everyone. She’d helped her visit the Prewetts during the summer after first year, and had stood by her after she’d confronted her sister in second year. Rose knew her, more than most people she knew, and yet she’d ended their friendship like it was a subscription to  _ Witch Weekly _ . She turned to look at Ted for a second, who’d received letters of his own. She bet he hadn’t received a single letter of an old friend telling him they couldn’t be friends anymore. She didn’t deserve any of it, why couldn’t people be happy she was with the love of her life? Why did she have to be disowned by her family for wanting to be happy? She turned, angrily, to the next letter, but its contents soothed her sudden rage and sadness.

> Dear Andy,
> 
> Merlin’s socks! Of course I’ll be your bridesmaid. It makes me ever so happy that you and Ted are getting married and you’ve trusted me with these news. Sure as hell we’ll be there, I hope you don’t mind I bring Dedalus with me.
> 
> See you tomorrow!
> 
> Juno

If anyone had told Andromeda in her first year at Hogwarts that she’d marry a muggleborn, Rose would turn her back on her, and Juno would be her maid of honour, she would’ve laughed in their face. But that was exactly what was happening, and she could never express the feeling of gratitude and love she felt towards Juno. She scribbled a couple notes with extra details and after pleading Maia to make another journey, saw her off. Ted was on the sofa, looking dead tired. They said goodnight to Philip and Vanessa, and made their way upstairs. This time, Vanessa did not yell to keep the door open. When she opened the door to Ted’s bedroom, Andromeda let go of the tears she’d been holding back since Rose’s letter. The tears she cried now, however, were not of sadness, anger, or frustration, but of happiness and how moved she was. Fairy lights illuminated the room, and the walls were covered with moving photographs of her, and photographs of the two of them. When she turned around, Ted was on one knee, a small velvety box in his hand.

“Ted—”

“Dromeda, I love you. I know I’ve asked you to give up so much for me. I know this ring is probably cheap plastic compared to the things you’re used to wear but, however chaotic our lives may be from now on, you deserve a proper marriage proposal.” He took a deep breath. “You’ll notice I really cleaned up my room this time around.” He had. “Will you marry me?”

“Stand up, silly. Of course I’ll marry you.” He beamed. “How did you find the time to do all this? We spent the entire afternoon together. How did you pay for this ring? It does not look cheap.” Indeed, the ring was carefully crafted, a small yellow gemstone shining on it.

“I had to get down in one knee, it’s a muggle thing. Anyway,  _ when _ I did this and how I paid for the ring are a secret, and a magician never reveals his secrets. That’s another muggle thing.” She frowned. “Alright, alright. I may have apparated in my room before I apparated in the living room, and saved my allowance for months to buy the ring. It’s no big deal, really.” She pulled him into a kiss, and he put the ring on her finger. “I can’t believe I got Andromeda Black to agree to marry me.”

“And to think you avoided me for two entire years.”

 

When she apparated in The Burrow, she was witness once again to the kind of life she hoped to achieve, happy to know she now had a real shot. Molly was rocking a baby in her arms, and Arthur was making faces at him. They all turned to look at her with broad smiles.

“Andy!” Arthur and Molly said in unison. Little Bill cooed happily.

“Molly, Arthur, it’s been so long!” She hugged them both, and held Bill’s tiny hand, impressed. His hair was red like his parents’, his eyes were blue like Arthur’s. She turned to him. “He has your eyes.” Molly and Arthur nodded, they’d probably been told so a million times, but they didn’t seem any less excited about it. “You may now openly call me your niece.”

“Gladly. Molly, hand Bill over. I can look after him while you help Andy out.” Molly left Bill carefully in Arthur’s arms.

“Where is Ted?” Molly asked.

“He’ll be here in a while. He’s getting ready at his place, and he’ll come with his parents through the fireplace, as they can’t do magic.” Molly nodded.

“Well, let’s hurry to the room, then.” The Burrow had grown since Molly had last been there. There was now a drawing room and a new bedroom, Bill’s, Andromeda guessed. “Where are you and Ted going to for your honeymoon?”

“We’re going to Normandy. We’re going to go near Asnelles, it’s gorgeous and there’s very few people in June.”

“That sounds lovely.” Molly’s bedroom was now bigger. The bed fit comfortably and she had two dressers. Andromeda was glad to see that they were doing well, it made her hopeful. She opened her bag, and lay her dress on top of the bed. Molly was surprised to notice it was a very simple dress. The sleeves were long and flared. The skirt was long as well, barely fluffing out. The only rich details were the open back and the green and golden leaves embroidered on the skirt. She also took out the flower crown Fabian had made for her many years ago. Molly helped Andromeda into her dress, and there was a knock on the door. Gideon and Juno burst in, speechless at Andromeda in her white dress. It fit her like a glove.

“Gid!” She flung herself into his arms. He kissed her forehead.

“Blimey, Andromeda, you look gorgeous. You sure you don’t wanna marry me instead?” She giggled.

“That’s a preposterous offer from the best man!” She joked. “I’m afraid I’ll have to decline. I don’t want your fan club chasing after me, Gid.”

“Fair enough,” Gideon shrugged. Andromeda turned to Juno.

“Juno, I’m so happy you made it!” Juno smiled.

“Wouldn’t miss it for the world.” Juno and Molly chatted away, getting ready, while Gideon braided Andromeda’s hair into a headband, finishing off by placing the flower crown his brother had made onto her head. Juno took a pair of white shoes out of her purse and handed them to Andromeda. “I’m sure you have your own, but please wear these. Something borrowed.” Andromeda nodded, they were exquisite. They had a comfortable heel and a delicate white bow behind the ankle.

The sun that shone outside the house reminded Andromeda of the times when her sisters and she were really young, and they would sneak outside to play in the garden. It all seemed very distant, but for a moment Andromeda missed her sisters with intense sincerity. The wedding was held out in the open, several candles enchanted to float all around. Arthur’s friend from work was presiding again. Since they’d had more time and resources this time around, the guests were sitting on white chairs. Fabian and Gracie Lloyd, Demeter, and Dedalus were sitting there. There were also several members and ex members of the Hufflepuff Quidditch team: Kambui Maddox, Amos Diggory, Hazel Noel, Isabel Fox, and Winnie Rose. Ted’s parents were sitting together, and Vanessa was already crying. Molly, Arthur, and Bill sat together, smiling. When Andromeda stepped outside, she felt a little sad Narcissa couldn’t be there. She would’ve loved to wear a nice dress and stand in front of everyone as a bridesmaid. Andromeda would’ve wanted to have her uncle and Sirius there, too. She lowered her gaze to her bouquet of forget-me-nots, ‘something blue’ Molly had told her. Gideon offered her his arm.

“Look at Ted, Andy.” He said, noticing her sudden sadness. She nodded, and looked at him. He was wearing a blue suit, and was looking transfixed at her. Her heart melt. Ted could not believe his eyes when he saw Andromeda step out of the house. She looked so beautiful his teeth hurt. She walked towards him, her eyes set on his face, Gideon by her side. When they reached Ted, Gideon stood beside him. Juno, who came right behind them, stood next to Andromeda.

“We’re gathered here,” the presiding wizard began. “Because of love, because of bravery.” He was already crying. “When Arthur told me I had to preside over yet another elopement, I asked him who did he think I am. Then he told me about Andromeda and Ted. All of you here must know what their relationship has been like. I’m glad that this time, at least, the groom’s parents are here to bear witness. Like the sun hides to give way to the moon, we’re meeting at sunset to let the stars guide our path through darkness.” He looked intently at Andromeda, and she guessed it was time for her to say her vows. She noticed he was a bit more of a showman than he’d been for Molly and Arthur’s elopement.

“Edward Tonks. Tonks. Ted. Your name is my favourite alliteration, you know?” She felt tears down her cheeks, but her voice was steady. “Since I was very little I have craved the sort of love that I never saw between my married relatives. I never imagined I would find it in someone my family had taught me to hate.” She smiled. “That’s why I can’t wait another second to take your very muggle surname. Nothing makes me happier than knowing this very night will welcome me under another name, your name. You have washed me clean, made me new, christened me under a new name. It is with you that I cease to be Andromeda Black and I become Andromeda Tonks, with all that action implies. I would get blasted off a hundred tapestries again and again for you, Ted. You have taught me patience, loyalty, and perseverance. I did not choose you over my family, I chose you to be my family. You have taught me to be free and true, Ted Tonks, and for that I’ll love you forever.” She turned to Gideon, who handed her a silver ring, took Ted’s hand, and put a silver ring on his left ring finger.

“Andromeda Callidora, you were a fierce twelve year old who threatened Podmore for making fun of you, and won my heart before I could notice or even have a say about it. You told me once that no woman would have three children and a dog with me if she’d taken Potions with me, or if she’d seen my bedroom.” Andromeda smiled fondly. “You’ve done both, and here you are, marrying me, so I guess that means I am a little closer to proving you wrong. I promise to cherish you, love you, and care for you. I promise to be slightly less messy than usual. I promise to make you laugh, to make you angry, to make you worry, to make you proud... to let you be you every second we’re together. I promise to be your family, like I once offered to you, so that you never feel alone. I love you and I will do so until my very last breath.” He would keep his promise, he’d love her until his last breath. But right then, they were blissfully happy, as he took the remaining ring from Gideon, and put it on her left ring finger as they were showered with golden stars.

“You may kiss the bride.” It was Andromeda the one who jumped into Ted’s arms and kissed him deeply. Gideon and Juno waved their wands, and the chairs moved aside to reveal a dancefloor and a table full of food. Demeter took her wand out and amplified her voice, and sang “Ask Me Why” by The Beatles for their first dance. They smiled broadly, circling around. Arthur was taking pictures with Ted’s camera. When Demeter turned to “Shout And Shimmy”, Gideon asked Andromeda for a dance. They engaged in an extravagant choreography, Gideon always the reckless dancer. In “Can I Get a Witness”, Fabian took her hand.

“You’ve got to admit that I was right about Ted.” He said, she frowned and he shrugged apologetically. “Too soon?” She rolled her eyes, smiling.

“Too unnecessary, Fabe.”

“You make a beautiful bride. I’m happy I was here to see it.” He tapped her flower crown. “I’m even happier you’re wearing it.” She looked down, would he move on from her now she was marrying Ted? She tried to change the subject.

“You said you were staying?”

“Yeah, right. Well, Dumbledore is getting wizards and witches together to gather intel on You Know Who. He reached out to me, and I came back to be of assistance.”

“That sounds dangerous, be careful, Fabe.”

“Molly has told me to be careful a thousand times already, don’t worry. The message has sunk in. Plus, I’ll be working with Gideon. We’ll have each other’s back, you’ll see.”

“I hope so.” Right then, Ted tapped on Fabian’s shoulder.

“May I?” Fabian nodded, and stepped aside.

“Hey there, Mrs Tonks.” Andromeda grinned, her eyes sparkling. “Merlin, that sounds dirtier than I expected, we should leave already.” She giggled.

“I’d love to, my dear husband, but we have guests that are having a good time and they prepared this party for us. We’ll have to wait a little longer.”

“Dromeda, don’t taunt me. Hearing you call me your husband makes me want to rip that dress off you.” She winked.

“But you  _ are _ my husband.” He let out a long sigh, and contented himself with kissing her, for the time being. After everyone had danced and eaten well, Andromeda and Ted gathered their things—they had their bags ready for their honeymoon—and addressed everyone.

“We are very happy you all could make it today, under such short notice,” Ted said.

“We’ll send you our new address as soon as we know what it is, so you can come visit.” Hugging each other, wands in hand, they kissed before casting the spell.

“ _ Expecto patronum _ ,” they said in unison. A fox and a vixen sprinted out of the tip of their wands, and run around together, rolling in the grass. With a loud  _ pop! _ Ted and Andromeda Tonks were gone. Their patronuses lingered a second after, biting each other’s ears affectionately, then disappeared.


	32. honeymoon

When she was ten, Andromeda had to sit for a portrait of her sisters and her in front of the family tapestry at Grimmauld Place. She had sat perfectly still because she knew perfectly well that the more she resisted it and the more she shifted restlessly, the longer it would take. By the time they were dismissed from sitting, Andromeda felt her neck, her joints, her back, and every single one of her muscles sore. That, however, was nothing like what she felt like after hours on a muggle train. They could’ve just arrived through the fireplace, but Andromeda didn’t want to risk it, in case her family was still looking for them and was watching the Floo Network of the house. They had visited a grocery shop before leaving the muggle town in direction of Ivy Walls, Ted had been impressed by Andromeda’s fluent French.

“What the fuck.”

“The  _ Toujours Pur _ is not just for show, every Black learns French as a second language,  _ mon nounours _ .”

“It sounds bloody hot. Can you use it later, as in tonight?” Andromeda laughed.

“You clearly don’t know what that means,  _ mon coeur _ .”

“One, I know you’d never insult me without letting me know you’re. Two, even if you were insulting me, it’d sound sexy in French.” She laughed again. They spent a good part of their first hours in Asnelles securing her aunt’s deserted house with protecting charms. She knew nobody cared much for the house, not now that her parents were having meeting every other day and Bellatrix was servicing some dangerous wizard. When they finally entered the house, Ted whistled appreciatively.

“This is some beach house. You say no one has used it in years?” Andromeda nodded. While Ted took their things to the bedroom, Andromeda busied herself with tidying up. In no time, the curtains were drawn, letting in the lazy last rays of sunlight in, the dust was gone, and she was resting on the sofa, feeling at peace for the first time in weeks. It was the high tide, and the remnants of the war harbor were barely visible over the water. “What do you want for dinner?” Ted asked, laying himself next to her.

“I thought we could go down to the muggle town and just buy pizza or something. We have no house-elf. Great aunt Cassiopeia took him with her when she moved out.” Ted was baffled.

“Why would we need a house-elf when we can cook ourselves? Why did you think I insisted on buying groceries on our way here?”

“I thought you just wanted to get to know the local shops.” He rolled his eyes.

“Come on, we shouldn’t be spending unnecessary money.”

“Do you just want to cook or do you intent to eat whatever we cook afterwards? Cause if I help, keep it in mind it will be inedible.”

“You don’t know how to cook?”

“Ted, Lolly has done all the house chores since I was a baby. I don’t know how to do scat.”

“But you got rid of the dust so efficiently!”

“Nothing a good Vanishing charm can’t accomplish, really.”

“I could teach you.” Andromeda pouted.

“Can’t that wait until our honeymoon is over? Can’t you cook by yourself? Or we can just buy pizza if you don’t want to, I’m just too tired.”

“I refuse to spend money irresponsibly.”

“Then cook for me,  _ mon nounours. _ ” He smirked.

“Now you’re just playing dirty.”

“Ted.”

“What?”

“I’m Mrs. Tonks now. Cook me dinner.” His eyes widened, and he turned to his side, to shower her face with kisses, tickling her furiously. Andromeda gasped in surprise, and broke into giggles.

“That’s what you get for cheating.” He said, standing up, as she lay breathlessly on the sofa.

“Are you cooking for me, at least?”

“You bet I am.”

 

“Ted?” She’d woken up in the middle of the night, startled. She’d been afraid she’d imagined it all, but Ted’s golden hair shone under the moonlight that filtered through the window. The air was comfortably chilly, making the house cold enough to snuggle without sweating. She hadn’t wanted to wake him up, but she needed reassurance. He turned to her, disoriented.

“Dromeda?” He said, confused. She moved closer to him, clinging onto his pyjama shirt.

“I’m sorry I woke you up. I just got scared.” She took a deep breath. “But you’re here, it’s okay now.” She smiled shyly. “I’m happy actually, it was all real. We got married, we’re together, we’re a  _ family _ and we’re alive,” Ted grinned.

“Of course we’re alive, wife.”

“Husband.” In a swift movement, Andromeda was on top of Ted, who was trying to pull his shirt off, rather unsuccessfully.

“I think it’s stuck.” Andromeda chuckled, and helped him out of it. She stared at him for a second.

“I am so hopelessly in love with you, Ted Tonks.”

“Oh, on the contrary, I think you’re very hopefully in love with me, because I am also very much in love with you, Andromeda  _ Tonks _ .” She kissed him, hungrily. He held her kindly, memorising the colour of her skin under the moonlight.

  
  


“You are not,” said Andromeda, browsing through a book of housing charms on the kitchen table, “I repeat, you are  _ not _ joining the Order.” Andromeda and Ted’s new house was in a muggle residential area, a little retired from the rest of the neighbourhood’s houses. They had spent three nights charming the perimeter so none of their muggle neighbours could spot the magic that went on inside. It was a two-storey house with a big garden. Ted had immediately suggested getting a dog, but Andromeda wouldn’t have it. Alphard’s deposit had been tremendously generous, Andromeda had sold some of her jewellery, and since they ended up barely spending on their wedding, it allowed them to fully furnish the place. The walls were plain but the furniture had lively colours, and Ted’s messiness kept everything from being too ordered. A Hufflepuff and a Slytherin crest hung in the living room, and the palette blended tastefully blues, yellows and greens. A million flowers, in a messy but colourful array, cluttered the front lawn.

“Oh, come on, Dromeda. I’ll be fine. Dumbledore is leading it, and they’re doing mostly minor assignments for now, trying to gather intel. Nobody know much, they’re trying to find a way to fight back. I hear Mad-Eye Moody is in the Order, you must’ve heard about him, he’s the real deal!” He said, spreading bolognese sauce on the second layer of the lasagna. The kitchen was rather new, but some thick stains splattered the countertop and the stove. Andromeda reviewed Ted’s progress with a critical eye, as he added a few new stains to the collection. Ted had been teaching her how to cook, and she wasn’t half bad—never as good as Ted—but far quicker, as Ted usually refused to cook with magic.

“Can’t you hurry that up? I’m starving.” She turned back to her book. “If it really wasn’t that dangerous, you wouldn’t need help from ‘the real deal’. Come on Ted, am I boring you already? We’ve been married a month and now you want to go out there and risk your life.”

“It doesn’t taste the same if I use magic,” Ted grunted, annoyed. They’d had that argument ten times now, and he was growing tired of it. Then, he turned around, looking Andromeda dead in the eye. “Of course I’m not bored of you, Dromeda. I could never be. That’s why I married you, for a lifetime of tormenting arguments about whether or not I should cook with magic and how messy my cooking is, and some very mind-blowing sex.”

“Your cooking is pretty messy.”

“No comments about the sex?” He said, pretending to be hurt.

“You’re very good in bed,  _ mon nounours _ , but you’re not joining the Order.” She stopped, her finger on the book. “Ah, here it is!  _ Mundare _ .” She pointed her wand at the stains at the kitchen and they were gone. She smiled proudly. “No stubborn stains can escape me.” Ted smiled, in spite of himself, Andromeda’s obsession with cleanliness was clearly a trait she’d inherited of her mother. He’d never tell her though, she always looked gloomy when her family came up.

“I will look like a total coward, not standing up for myself.”

“If you pay attention, most of the members of the order are unmarried, pureblood wizards and witches. Why? Because they don’t have a target on their backs. Voldemort does not carry a hit list with their names on it, they are free to spy and whatnot. Plus, what if you join the Order and you die?”

“I could die here in this kitchen.”

“If you die here in this kitchen it will be over my dead body. If you die out there on some ridiculous mission, you’ll leave me alone, you’re my only family. I need you here if we’re to start a family, have children, and all of that.” Ted’s eyes widened, and he forgot the lasagna as he got closer to Andromeda.

“What about not having three children and a dog with me?”

“We can make it a child and a cat and we have a deal.” Ted was astonished.

“You mean that? You want to make a baby?” Andromeda blushed violently, looking away from him.

“I mean, why not? I’m starting my training as a Healer in a week, and you are getting that interview at the Ministry. We’re married and we’re gonna have a steady income. And it’s not like we’re celibate…” Ted grinned, he grabbed her chin kindly, turning her face to look at him. He kissed her, intensely and slowly, pushing her book away.

“Let’s make that baby then.” Andromeda giggled.

“I’m still hungry!”

“I can finish this first and then I can go back to the lasagna.”

“It’ll take you ages.” He rolled his eyes.

“Fine, I’ll finish it with magic.” Andromeda beamed, and pulled him closer to her.

“That’s the future baby daddy I need.”

“Is it weird that that turns me on?” She cracked up.

“You’re such a dork. Shut up and kiss me, Ted Tonks.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Mon nounours" literally means "my teddybear" and if this isn't the most perfect pet name, I don't know which one is.


	33. congrats on getting sorted into gryffindor

> Dear Sirius,
> 
> I’m so sorry it’s taken me this long to write to you but I had to wait until you were at Hogwarts to ensure your awful mother or my nosy mother wouldn’t get a hold of it. I’m so proud of you for getting into Gryffindor! (Although you would’ve made a great rebel Slytherin, like me). I enclose a present to make up for your most probably severed allowance (although I am sure uncle Alphard will send you more). I hope Regulus tries to imitate you and lands himself in another House—not that Slytherin isn’t awesome, but I doubt he’ll grow out of the  _ Toujours Pur _ in my House. I’ve heard Madam Hypnos has been replaced by a new matron this year and I think it’s an awful loss. She was the one on charge of the Healing Course, it’s a pity you won’t have it anymore.
> 
> As you’ve probably heard from uncle, Ted and I got married this past July. It was a most wonderful wedding, I’m so sorry you missed it, but I attach some photographs. We bought a nice house and you can visit whenever you are visiting uncle Alphard (if they still let you visit him).
> 
> I recently got a position as a Trainee Healer in St Mungo’s and Ted got hired at the Ministry. Uncle pulled some strings and managed to get us interviews, despite my family’s attempt to veto us from almost any establishment we could get a job at.
> 
> Uncle has told me Bellatrix is to be wed sometime this month, if you attend, please do make sure to drop something nasty in the wine, and to take candid photographs in which everyone looks bad and send them to me. There isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t miss you and uncle. Please know that I am always here if you need help.
> 
> Uncle sent me a picture of my father blasting me off the tapestry at your place—I’ve framed it and it rests beautifully in my living room—he never cared for me at all, then has the nerve to blast me off. At least there would’ve been some consistency in her actions if your mother had done it. My mother kept threatening me with her like she was a troll. And yet, there she is, next to my father, not even twitching as they incinerate my face off a wall. Hypocrite hag. Please stir some salt into her tea when you get the chance. I love you very much, cousin dear, and I hope you’ll write to me often.
> 
> Love,
> 
> Andromeda


	34. another tonks

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologise for the delay but, honestly, uni has been hellish.

Although they had been trying quite a bit, Andromeda was not getting pregnant. She did not worry, though. It had been only a while since they had laid off the birth control potions, and it would take some time before she could get pregnant. Of course, it’d been a couple months now, but she was in no hurry. Ted was being extra nice and caring, he brought her breakfast in bed three times a week instead of two—and the sex had gotten even better. It was a bright Sunday morning at the beginning of May, when she was knitting a baby blanket, yellow and black to alternate with the already knit green and silver. As she counted the stitches in her work, it dawned on her that she should’ve mooned a month ago and yet, there had been no blood. She checked the calendar to make sure and, indeed, she was late. Her hands shook with dread and excitement. There was quite the difference between trying to get pregnant and actually knowing she was pregnant and there was a real baby on the way. She stood up and, without alerting Ted, who was looking cheerfully after his flowers in the front lawn, took out the cauldron, set a fire and brought out her  _ Midwife Magic _ book. She assorted the ingredients (had to go to the backyard garden to get some herbs), and minced, and crushed, and squeezed, and poured, and stirred. Twenty minutes later—it was a fairly easy preparation—Andromeda turned the fire off and poured the contents of the cauldron into a small glass beaker, a thick, sweet smelling, pink liquid resting in it.

“Ted!” She called. Silence. “ _ Mon nounours _ !” Ted opened the main door and poked his head through.

“You called, wife?”

“Can you try this for me and make sure I’m not about to poison myself?”

“What have you made?” He said, walking in with his dirty boots, spilling soil on the perfectly clean floor. Andromeda made a face.

“Seriously, can’t you wipe your feet before walking in?” She waved her wand and the dirt was gone. “I’m trying some potions for my job. You know me, it’s probably perfect.”

“Yet you won’t try it yourself.” He said, giving her a suspicious look, ignoring completely the remark about his mess. He stood beside her, smelling richly of soil, sweat, and flowers, Andromeda hugging him instinctively as he picked up the glass beaker and drank from it.

“Tastes fruity,” he said, appreciatively. “Is it supposed to taste fruity?”

“Yes, it’s supposed to taste fruity. If it tastes like pomegranates, it means it’s been brewed perfectly. If it tastes like peaches, it won’t be as accurate.”

“Tastes like pomegranates. Accurate at what?” She winked.

“Let me have some of that.” She drank a bit and waited a couple seconds. Andromeda showed her tongue to Ted.

“Your tongue is blue.” He said. Then, he understood what was going on, his eyes opening in surprise, his arms wrapping her around her waist, lifting her off the floor. “DROMEDA, YOUR TONGUE IS BLUE. You’re pregnant! We’re having a baby!” Andromeda laughed, and her laughter filled the kitchen.

“We’re having a baby!” There was something wholesome and precious about the look on Ted’s face, as he stared at her belly with child-like amazement. She was remembered of how young they really were. She was only eighteen, he was only nineteen, and there they were, married, with jobs and a house and a baby on the way. It felt barely real. Then Ted kissed her, tenderly, and her thoughts forgot how young they were. There was only Ted, and the baby in her womb, and the warm feeling that she had a family that she loved and that loved her.

“What will we call the baby?”

“I’ll have to think about it, but nothing star or constellation related.” Ted raised an eyebrow.

“Don’t I have a say in it?”

“Fine. If it’s a girl, I name her, and if it’s a boy you name him,” Ted grinned.

“Do you think they’ll be a Hufflepuff?”

“If they know what’s going down, they’ll get into Slytherin. My house needs some good publicity from time to time.”

“You think  _ you _ were good publicity?”

“Hufflepuff’s golden boy fell for me, of course I think I was good publicity.” He smirked.

“Maybe I just like bad girls.”

“Oh, come on, you like to be called pet names in French.”

“It sounds hot.”

“It’s actually quite dorky.”

“You love dorky.”

“And you love me.”

 

Molly appeared in her fireplace that Saturday afternoon, and was starting to show. Andromeda was so excited when she’d heard Molly and Arthur were also expecting, that she wouldn’t have to go through it alone—even better, Molly had already gone through it with Bill. Ted greeted them fondly, immediately starting conversation with Arthur, about the Ministry and muggles. Little Bill, who was stumbling around under Molly’s watch, had grown so much in the few months since her wedding, Andromeda was suddenly worried. Would her child grow up so quickly, too? Then, a  _ pop! _ interrupted her trail of thought and she turned towards the main door, through which we walked in, smiling widely at her. She beamed.

“Oh, Merlin!” She threw herself into his arms and hugged him tightly.

“Most people call me Gideon, but I guess Merlin works, too.” Andromeda chuckled. “Andy I can’t believe you’re having a baby! When did you become an adult? I’m so sorry for the loss of your youth.” Andromeda smacked him teasingly on the arm. “Can I be godfather? Please say I can be godfather.” Ted greeted him merrily, with a hug and pats on the back.

“We’ll be seeing you on Christmas, then,” he told him, and Gideon grinned.

“Have you decided on a name yet?” Ted made a warning face, but it was too late. As they made their way to the kitchen for a cuppa, Andromeda smiled excitedly.

“Well, I have trouble deciding between Winika, Anona, Nymphadora, Elestren, or Wisteria; if it’s a girl.” Molly coughed suddenly, Arthur seemed rather interested in their kitchen, and Gideon’s eyes went wide.

“You can’t be serious.”

“I mean, I also contemplated Crisanta, but it just sounds like she’ll be a boring person.”

“Andy, I love you but, do you hate your child?” Andromeda flushed. Ted put his hands on her shoulders, reassuringly.

“Dromeda is still sorting through them, I’m sure she’ll make a lovely choice.” Andromeda grinned, her husband’s approval was all she needed. Gideon was shaking his head.

“Why do you encourage her? What happens if it’s a boy? You’ll call him Crispin?” Ted shot him another warning look.

“If it’s a boy, I get to name him. I think Stephen or Gabriel are nice options.” Gideon understood immediately that Ted had all his money on the baby being a boy. He hoped, for the wellbeing of the baby, that they was.

“You should name him Gabriel if it’s a boy, because it starts with a G, like Gideon,” everybody rolled their eyes. “Oh, or you could just name him Gideon… I suppose you could also name him Stephen, and then middle name Gideon—” yet another warning look from Ted was missed, and Andromeda beamed.

“I’d forgotten about middle names! Wow, this opens up so many options!” She hurried off to the bookshelf in the living room, and began perusing  _ Unique and Magical Baby Names _ , and Ted took his palm to his face in despair.

“Do you want to be godfather or do you want me to kill you?” Gideon smiled apologetically.

“I didn’t know my beloved friend was so bad at naming babies. One would think she’d be good, she gave her owl a perfectly reasonable name.” Ted began pouring them tea. Bill was drinking off a milk bottle Molly had brought with them.

“That’s because she was in second year and still thought her family’s tradition of giving names out of stars and constellations was lovely. We could’ve chosen Cassiopeia, or Lyra, or Carina, but now they’re all out of the question.”

“That’s a pity.” Gideon took his cup of tea and went to look for Andromeda in the living room. Above the fireplace, the crests of Hufflepuff and Slytherin hung harmoniously, and Gideon thought it was both weird but also it kind of made sense. He’d never met a more harmonious couple then Andromeda and Ted, except, maybe, for his sister and Arthur. A couple photographs rested on the fireplace, and he realised one of them was of a stern-looking wizard and an expressionless yet gorgeous woman standing beside him, as he burned off a face on the wall. She barely batted an eyelash.

“Those are my lovely parents, blasting me off the tapestry. My uncle sent it to me.” She said, looking at him from the sofa, book on her lap.

“This is dreadful.”

“I think of it as a constant reminder that, no matter how much I loved and cared about my family, they still disowned me like it was yet another errand to run that day. My uncle told me Bellatrix wanted to blast me off the wall, but my father beat her to it. How touching.”

“Your family is weird, Andy.” Andromeda was about to say ‘Ted is my family now’ but was cut off by the sudden green fire in the fireplace and, a blink later, Juno was standing in Andromeda’s living room. Andromeda jumped to her feet.

“Merlin’s socks! Juno! I’m so glad you came!” She wrapped her in a tight hug. “I thought you said you had practice and couldn’t make it?”

“Well, it ended early. The official Harpies had to have an extra training session and needed the pitch.”

“I can’t believe you’re playing for the Harpies.” She shrugged, clearly proud.

“It’s only the reserve team.”

“I’m sure you’ll make the official team soon.” Gideon interjected, stepping closer to hug Juno.

“My, my, Gideon, almost a year since we’ve graduated and you’re already giving me cool vibes. Are you working anywhere?” Juno took a seat in the sofa next to Andromeda, and Gideon sat in one of the armchairs.

“I’ve been running some errands for Dumbledore, some minor commissions for the Ministry, nothing permanent yet. Not for lack of requisites, mind you, but I dislike doing the same thing for too long. I reckon I might turn to Quidditch, though, but I still haven’t decided.” Ted, hearing the voices from the living room, came in carrying a teacup, followed by Molly, Arthur, and Bill, who magicked extra seats to sit on.

“Oh, hi, Juno,” he said, hugging her with one arm. “Fancy a cuppa?”

“Oh, hello Molly, Arthur, Bll, Ted. Please, Ted dear,” she picked the cup from his hands. “Heard you’re working at the Ministry?” Ted grinned.

“Magical Accidents and Catastrophes, I’m with the Obliviator Squad. They thought my background as muggleborn could come in handy with all these attacks on muggles. One would’ve thought You-Know-Who would make it more difficult for me to get a job but, luckily, in this particular instance, he actually helped.” Juno shook her head.

“It’s dreadful. Dedalus has joined the Order. I keep telling him it’s risky but, alas, he won’t listen. You should’ve tried for a Quidditch team, though, Ted. You make a terrific keeper.”

“I’m afraid a Ministry job is much more attainable in the current circumstances than a flashy Quidditch position. I’m afraid You-Know-Who has made it rather difficult for muggleborns to get a job in almost every other place. Of course, my lovely wife’s relations have also seen to it that I can’t interview for a Healer-Training Programme or try out for certain Quidditch teams.” Andromeda smiled.

“But I love you.”

“And I love you.” He agreed. “Anyhow, my Magical Aid certification will come in handy if any catastrophes occur, and I’ve been told I might have to cover some news on the telly from time to time.” Everybody seemed excited.

“Really? Oh my, Ted, you hadn’t told me! Vanessa’s going to flip when she hears.”

“I just might have to get one of those teellies.”

“Telly,” Ted corrected Gideon.

“Well,” Juno began, “I know that both Caradoc and Dorcas have begun their training as Aurors. And, of course, I imagine you’ve heard Demeter on the wireless. ”

“It’s great that I still keep contact with you because otherwise I wouldn’t know what people are doing with their lives after Hogwarts.”


	35. nymphadora juniper

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Part of this chapter is inspired on the following text post: https://mischiefhasbeenmanaged.tumblr.com/post/170805743411/ted-trips-and-falls-while-andromeda-is-in

For years to come, Andromeda would remember fondly that Christmas morning. The wireless was playing Demeter’s new Christmas carols: “Oh Christmas Bowtruckle” and “We Wish You a Pixie Christmas”. The snow was falling silently outside and the fire crackled comfortably. They had visited Molly a couple days before, she had given birth to Charles, her second son. Little Bill had been gaping in awe at his little brother. His eyes were blue, just like Arthur and his brother’s. Ted had made her a cup of hot chocolate, marshmallows and all. They were sitting in their bed, Ted talking in soft whispers to her now prominent belly, a hand resting warmly on it.

“You know, little one,” he said, with a tender smile in his face, “we are very eager to meet you. You’re gonna love your mummy, she is the most beautiful woman in the whole wide world.” He turned to Andromeda with excitement. “The baby’s kicking again!”

“I know, Ted, I can feel it.” Ted turned again to her belly.

“The first time I saw your mummy, her mean sister insulted me.” Andromeda frowned. “I am so glad we got past that, because if you could see your mummy’s face now, you’d see how gorgeous she is. I hope you get her looks, I am not half as good-looking. She is also bloody talented, too. I wouldn’t be surprised if you became famous, if you’re half as talented as your mum.”

“Ted,  _ mon nounours _ , I love it that you’re such a dedicated father, but my back hurts. Can you move for a bit?” He shifted immediately, helping her to find a more comfortable position. “I’d be ever so happy if our child looks like you, Ted. You’re very handsome, and very talented, too.” He smiled and kissed her on the cheek.

“Want to open presents?”

“I’d rather stay here with you a little longer. I am very happy right now. Us, together, like this. Our last Christmas by ourselves. All Christmases to come will be in company of our child.”

“Well, it’s not like we’ll be on our own the entire day, Gideon is coming for dinner.”

“Fabian, too. He said he doesn’t want to disrupt her sister’s visit to their parents’.”

“The more, the merrier.”

“How much longer do you think we can stay here before you have to start cooking?”

“A couple hours, I reckon.” Andromeda snuggled up to him.

“That’s great. Happy Christmas,  _ mon nounours _ .”

“Happy Christmas, my love.”

 

The cup on her hands broke in a million pieces with a start, as surprise took over her. It was a cosy 4 January in the afternoon when she’d felt a sudden pain. She took her wand out and flicked it, the cup going back to look as if nothing had happened. She squeezed the magical charm they had prepared for when her contractions began. A second later, a couple of  _ pop! _ s were followed by Gideon and Ted bursting through the main door a couple moments later, running into the kitchen. She smiled at both of them.

“Hi, I think the baby’s coming.” Ted had an expression that was somewhere between happiness and panic, whereas Gideon just looked excited. She glanced at Ted. “It’s okay, it was just the first contraction… I think. You should start timing them.” She turned to Gideon. “Can you make sure my uncle and Juno are briefed? They are going to want to be here. Molly should be putting Charlie to sleep for his nap, she’ll be here any time.”

“Dromeda, dear, you should sit.”

“I’m fine.” Ted frowned. “Okay, it hurt. But I’m fine.” Ted pulled a chair closer to her. “Thanks, husband.”

“Maybe we should go to St. Mungo’s, after all.”

“Nonsense. I’ll have my baby in my home, surrounded by family.” She held her back with one hand, her belly becoming suddenly heavy. “You know what to do. Molly said she’d deliver the baby to spare you the experience.”

“I’ll be there, holding your hand.”

“I’d take some numbing potion for your hand, if I were you.” Ted looked alarmed.

“I doubt you’ll have to squeeze that hard—”

“I guess we’ll figure it out.” She held his arm tightly with a new contraction. “You have to tell Philip and Vanessa.”

“Right, I’ll be right back.” He disappeared into the living room and Andromeda heard the fireplace roar, and voices in the living room. Afterwards, Molly walked into her kitchen..

“Andy, dear, I came as soon as I could.”

“It’s okay, I’m still…” she turned towards the kitchen door. “Ted? How far apart are the contractions?”

“Five minutes!” She turned back to Molly.

“Five minutes.” Molly put her hands to her hips.

“That’s not very far apart. You’re almost in labour. Where will you be setting up?”

“My room is fine.”

“Alright, I’ll take you there.” The thirty minutes it took for Andromeda to be in labour went by with incredible speed. The next thing she knew, she was sweating while her body felt like it was trying to tear itself apart. Her living room was full of visitors: Gideon, Alphard, Juno and Dedalus, Fabian, Demeter, Vanessa and Philip. Their voices carried inside her bedroom, where Molly stood between her legs, and Ted was holding her hand, telling her to breathe.

“I’m scared, Ted. Will I make a good mother? I’m so young, I shouldn’t be having a child this young, I’m only nineteen.” Ted stroked her hair gently, then took a towel and dried the sweat off her forehead.

“Dromeda, darling, you’ll make a wonderful mother.” He smiled reassuringly. “I’ll be twenty soon, I’ll take care of us.” She squeezed his hand tightly. “Ouch! That hurt, Dromeda.” She looked at him, eyes wide with anger.

“ _ That _ hurt? Try  _ giving birth _ to our child.”

“Right, sorry. Molly, how are we?” Molly smiled apologetically.

“Andy, dear, you have to start pushing now.” Her eyes went wide with horror.

“I haven’t pushed yet?”

“No, honey, but I’m sure you’ll do great.” Andromeda busied herself looking at Ted’s face and squeezing his hand as hard as she could. She wanted to punch him. He’d done this to her. Ted’s smile was loving and his eyes were caring and she pushed with all her might because she was having his child, she was giving them a family. She wanted this. “That’s brilliant, Andy, come on, give me another one.” In spite of his comforting words and the smile on his face, she could feel the fear in his heart, the uncertainty that surrounded them. Women died during childbirth. Babies died during childbirth. Childbirth itself was a very scary thing. It was only natural to be anxious and scared. They were going to be a family, though, even if it was the last thing she did. She hadn’t given up everything she knew to stop then. She was going to put on a brave face and stare into the unknown because she was a mother. She was a mother, and that was what mothers were supposed to do. Her strength faltered suddenly. Had she failed? She had to push again, she couldn’t stop now, could she? “It’s a girl!” Molly exclaimed, and crying ensued. “You did wonderfully, Andy, it’s a beautiful baby girl.” Molly summoned a recipient with warm water and cleaned her carefully. Ted dropped her hand and turned to their daughter. Andromeda was still processing Molly’s words. A girl? A baby girl? Thank Merlin, she was a mother to a baby girl. A healthy baby girl. Ted approached with a baby in his arms, wrapped in clean blankets. He put her in her arms, and Andromeda smiled tiredly, with tears in her eyes. The baby stopped crying and stirred peacefully.

“Ted, look, it’s our daughter.”

“She’s perfect.” Ted agreed.

“I’ll leave you two alone for a second,” Molly said, cleaning everything up with a wave of her wand. They didn’t pay her any heed, they were lost in their baby’s face.

“She has your nose.” Ted observed.

“Her hair is fairer than mine, it’s kind of like yours—” she gasped. “Look, Ted! Her hair is purple now!”

“Metamorphmagus! Our child is a metamorphmagus!” Ted exclaimed, also tearing up.

“She is magical, Ted. She is precious.” Gideon and Juno entered, followed by Alphard and Ted’s parents.

“How is our goddaughter?” Gideon asked.

“She is a metamorphmagus!” Ted announced. Her hair had changed back to light brown. “Her hair became purple a few seconds ago!”

“Have you decided on a name yet, Andy?” Juno asked. Andromeda beamed between tears, and looked up to look at her.

“Nymphadora Juniper,” she announced. “The Juniper is for you, Juno, and for you, Gideon Harper.” Juno and Gideon jumped with excitement.

“Dora it is,” Gideon said with a smile. Everybody nodded.

“The ‘pha’ in Nymphadora is for the ‘pha’ in Alphard.” Andromeda added. “Nym and Dora are just two names I liked a lot.” Her uncle grinned fondly, and she could’ve sworn he was crying.

“That’s a lovely name, Dromeda,” He said. Andromeda could not bring herself to stop crying. There were very few things that were perfect in life. She knew that very well by then. Her daughter, however, was perfect. The people standing beside her, were perfect. Suddenly, she realised her family was much bigger than she’d thought. There were Dora and Ted, but also her uncle, and Vanessa, and Philip, and Gideon, and Juno. And Molly, standing outside, and Fabian, and Arthur.

“Look around, Dora. These people are your family.”


	36. runaway

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Brace yourselves, honeys. We've got very few happy moments left.

“Dora get back down here!” Andromeda had found yet another wall with scribbles on it. Her daughter was floating near the ceiling, she’d began doing so a week or so ago, and she’d taken a liking to it. Sometimes Andromeda was baffled at the things children were able to do without knowing much about magic. No grown wizard or witch could float around like it was no problem. She looked at Andromeda, her eyes going red, green, purple. “What is the meaning of this?”

“Daddy says I’m a great artist.” Nymphadora said, pouting. “You can make it disappear, why are you angry?”

“Because we’ve agreed that scribbling on the walls is not okay, that’s why you’ve got your notebooks and your canvases.”

“But the world is a canvas, mummy.” _Are all three year olds poets and philosophers?_ Andromeda wondered, reaching up and taking her daughter down to ground level.

“If you want to play with Bill and Charlie tomorrow afternoon, you’ll stop ruining the walls, okay?” She nodded.

“Yes, mummy.” The fireplace lit in green flames, which was odd, because Ted should still be at work and, anyway, he preferred to apparate. A second afterwards, Sirius Black was standing in her fireplace. Andromeda hadn’t seen Sirius in six long years, and the teenager standing in her fireplace looked nothing like she remembered him. He was so tall he towered over her and he was handsome, too, his grey eyes flashing boldly.

“Andy!” He said with a widespread grin, hugging her tightly, lifting her off her feet and spinning her around. Andromeda laughed happily. She’d never thought she’d see her cousin again after they’d blasted her off the tapestry. Soon enough, there were teardrops down her cheeks.

“Oh, Merlin, Sirius, I never thought I’d see you again.” He put her back on the ground. “My, how you’ve grown. You’re good-looking, too. I hope you’re staying out of trouble at school, you’ve got the looks of a rascal.” She ruffled his hair, affectionately.

“How _I’ve_ grown? You don’t look like a teenager anymore, Andy. You look like a mum.” He turned around to contemplate his cousin’s house. It was exactly what he’d expected Andromeda’s house to look like. It was cosy, well illuminated, and mostly quite neat. His eyes stopped at a tiny girl in the room, her eyes going from blue to gold, her hair from green to blue.

“Mummy, who’s this man?” Andromeda grinned, and took Dora’s hand to bring her closer.

“Dora, this is my cousin, Sirius. I’ve told you about him.” Sirius extended his hand, which Dora grabbed curiously. He tickled her, and she laughed.

“Hello, Dora. Your mum has written me quite a lot about you.”

“Dora, dear, why don’t you go play in the garden? Sirius and I are going to have a cuppa. Just mind daddy’s sunflowers, he won’t like it if you bend them.” Dora stepped out to the sunny garden, and Sirius followed Andromeda into the kitchen. She poured him a cup of tea with the cadence of someone who is quite used to doing so. Andromeda still bore some of the regal mannerisms that her family had instilled in her. Her hair was still the same rich chocolaty brown, falling into graceful waves and curls. Her eyes were still the same kind and sweet almonds, but her expression was ever more graceful, more patient. “Now, Sirius, how come you’re visiting? Did you strike a deal with uncle? I doubt he’d let you come just like that. Things are more dangerous than ever. Voldemort has been taking credit for the muggle and muggleborn murders and disappearances. That bloody skull sends chills down my spine every time the _Prophet_ publishes one.”

“That’s what I wanted to talk to you about. I mean, besides coming just for the pleasure of it. Mate, had I know you were living like this, I would’ve ran away from home and come to stay with you years ago, I—”

“YOU RAN AWAY FROM HOME? You know how dangerous it is and you still did something so stupid?”

“Right, I forgot I hadn’t told you yet. Oh, don’t sermon me, you would’ve done the same.” He helped himself to a sip of tea. “Actually, you did the same, when you ‘swore in front of your parents and kissed the mudblood in front of the entire station’,” he imitated Narcissa’s voice and feigned dismay. “Good one, by the way. Very inspiring.” Andromeda smiled in spite of herself.

“Where are you staying then? Where are your things? Are you going to live with uncle?” Sirius shook his head.

“Nah, the poor bloke has done enough for us, the blood traitors.” He grinned. “I didn’t want to force him to turn into one of my mother’s enemies.”

“Well, then, you can stay with us, I’m sure Ted will be thrilled.” He noticed how her eyes glittered at the mention of her husband.

“You really love him, huh? I’m glad you ditched everything to be with him, you look happy, Andy. And thank you, but no, my best friend, James, has already offered to host me. His mother wouldn’t have it any other way. Wonderful woman, that one. Not like my mother, that bitch. Blasted me off the tapestry the second I set foot out of the house. Petty, awful woman.” Andromeda drank from her cup, then smiled sympathetically.

“I do, I love him lots.” She admitted with a tender grin. “Welcome to The Blasted. That would be a cool band name.” Sirius nodded in agreement. “Your mother is pretty awful. Mine was horrible but yours was dreadful. A wonder, really, how we turned out so well.” Her eyes were lost beyond the windows on the kitchen door that led to the garden, watching her daughter play in the soft sun. Then her eyes skittered back to her cousin, and she rested her hand on top of his. “Sirius, do know that my home is always open for you. Don’t overstay your welcome at your friend’s. Ted and I would love to house you.” He smiled fondly.

“I know, Andy, but I really think it’s best if I stay with him. I’d do all sorts of things you’d hate. Plus, no offence, but my twenty-three year old cousin and her three year old are not my idea of fun.”

“Who are you calling _boring_ , Sirius? I still got loads of spark in me. Remember I was the one who ignited in you the ardent need to escape your mother by means of physically removing yourself from her presence.” He chuckled.

“Hey, Andy, you probably know.” He shifted in his seat, as he was going to change the direction of the conversation. “We’ve been hearing loads of rumours on Voldemort, but no one will tell us anything. Not even James’s parents.” Andromeda lowered her eyes.

“I’m afraid I don’t know much either. Gid and the Order have been trying to figure out what exactly he is up to, but he’s ahead of every single one of their moves, and he has more followers, too. Fabe has been thrice to visit me this month, trying to convince me to get back in touch with my sisters, see if I can get them to tell me anything. He doesn’t know them like we do. If I send a letter to Cissy she’ll burn it, and Bellatrix would use it to trace it back to me and kill me and my family.”

“Bellatrix has gone quite mad, that’s true. You didn’t see her after you ghosted them on King’s Cross. She was furious. Blasted half the stuff that was left in your room. Kept muttering stuff like it was her fault or that she should’ve acted sooner.”

“Well, I imagine she must’ve felt quite salty about it. She found out about me and Ted in her seventh year and I convinced her to stay out of my business. She must’ve thought it was a childish whim of mine, that I’d graduate and forget about Ted.”

“She clearly thought wrong,” he said with pride.

 

It had been a rainy September so far, and that day was quite the same as the rest. The letter came early in the morning. Dora was at Molly’s, so Andromeda scribbled a quick note to Ted, and apparated in the cemetery. As expected, it was deserted. The note had come from her uncle’s lawyer. Alphard had passed away that morning, leaving a large sum of money to Sirius, which had further enraged her aunt Walburga, making her uncle part of their band. The coffin was standing alone under a tent, no one there to see it buried. Andromeda magicked a bouquet of daisies. She looked at her uncle’s coffin. No wake, no proper funeral, just her standing in the rain, then his burial. She cried. There was no wailing, no screaming, just tears silently streaming down her cheeks, flushed with the rain and the cold. She could never summon enough flowers for her uncle. He deserved so much more than just her, standing in the rain. He had lived a quiet life, his Wizard’s Chess and the piano, the biscuits he baked for her and Sirius. She hadn’t seen him since Dora’s birth, not wanting to risk him getting caught. She cried, she had been more of a parent to her than her own parents had been. She toppled onto the coffin, sobbing inaudibly. Under the tent there was no more rain, but that didn’t bring her any calm. Had he been sick and hidden it from her in his letters? Could she have helped? What was the use of being a Healer if she couldn’t heal the people she cared about? Sirius had mentioned he looked older, somehow, more tired. He had given her help and support whenever she’d needed it. He was the father Cygnus had never been… how was she supposed to live without him? Who was going to look after her from the shadows? Who was she going to write to about every silly little thing that happened in her life? Her letters were rarely long, but she wrote many. Sometimes more than one a day. Who was going to care for her? She raised her eyes for a second and saw a tan, short man, with dark slanted eyes, and dark brown hair. He seemed to be looking at the coffin she was crying over. She blinked, and the next second he was gone. Could he had been her uncle’s long lost ex lover? He’d never said much, but Andromeda knew they must’ve had an intense relationship. She went back to sobbing disconsolately, mutely. She had even managed to scare away the one person who’d bothered to show up to her uncle’s funeral. Sirius was at school, he wouldn’t be able to come, and she alone was to do her uncle’s memory justice. She’d never done enough for him.

Alphard Black had been a warm, caring, decent man, and nobody was there to show for it. She had wanted to ask him so many things, had wanted to tell him so many things. She’d promised herself that as soon as that stupid war was over she was going to take him on a trip with her, Ted, and Dora. She would never be able to, he was gone. Her beloved uncle was gone, the man who’d introduced her to muggle London, who’d looked after her, who’d allowed her to meet with her friends, who’d met Ted as an equal, who’d helped them elope. The man she’d partly named her daughter after. She felt a hand on her shoulder out of the blue. The touch was warm, even through her drenched clothes. She turned around and saw Ted’s kind brown eyes looking at her.

“He’s gone, Ted.” She said, rising to her feet, to sink into his arms, his hug the most comforting thing in the world. “He was better than any father I could’ve ever had and he’s gone, Ted.” He stroked her back softly.

“I know, Dromeda.” He kissed her crown, lovingly. “You can let it out. You loved him and that is precious. You should be allowed to be sad.” She cried into his chest, this time sobbing loudly, her body shaking with every breath. She cried the deep-felt ugly cries that one cries when it really hurts.

“Is this what things will be like from now on?” She said in a shaky voice, barely intelligible. “Are we gonna have to constantly allow ourselves to be sad?”

“We don’t know that, Dromeda.”

“This is a war, Ted. The _Prophet_ can call them attacks all it wants but this is a war. A war in which your life’s at stake. In which our friends and our daughter’s life is at stake.”

“I’ll survive this war, Dromeda, you’ll see. We’ll all survive it.” She held onto his words, the only things that could possibly bring her calm, and she continued to cry—the ugly kind of crying—into his shirt. Alphard was gone.


	37. april's fools

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Part of this chapter is inspired on this gifset: http://excepttheeyes.tumblr.com/post/95230964383/gideon-prewett-it-took-five-death-eaters-to-kill

When Gideon received Molly’s message that she was in labour, he hadn’t believed her. It was April’s fools, after all. Later, Fabian’s patronus, a swift, had showed up and told him to quit dicking around, Molly was having her babies for sure. Molly was pregnant with twins, and it had been bloody crazy. She’d been so huge, Gideon knew that couldn’t be good for her back. He apparated a few meters away from  The Burrow, and in no time he walked in, smiling widely. Audrey Fawcett ran in and out of Molly’s room, while Fabian paced the kitchen. On one of the sofas, Ted sat reading “Babbity Rabbity” to Dora, Bill, and Charlie.

“Hi Gid,” a sweet voice mellowed next to him, and he turned to find Andromeda resting against the wall, a cup of tea in her hands. “Took you sweet time to come here, didn’t you? I thought for a second Molly was going to give birth before you decided to honour us with your presence.” Gideon grinned.

“I thought it was a joke. April’s fools, you know.” He turned to Fabian, and grabbed his arm, pulling him a little further away from the rest of the people in the house. “Hey, Fabe, is Molly in labour yet?” Fabian sighed.

“I don’t know, Audrey keeps coming in and out, but she tells us nothing. Twins are a difficult delivery.” Gideon nodded.

“Is Gracie in there helping?” Fabian looked at him, surprised his brother had decided to bring her up.

“No, we, uh… we broke up.” Gideon cast a side glance towards Fabian’s wrist and, sure enough, the watch that Andromeda had given him ten years ago was still there. A small dent marked the side of it, the years and Fabian’s carelessness had left their mark.

“You have let her go, Fabe,” Gideon added in a whisper. “This is the definition of not-healthy. She’s married and has a child.  _ Her husband is reading tales to her daughter right now _ , in that very sofa over there, for Merlin’s sake.” Fabian’s eyes flickered with something Gideon was unable to recognise.

“I am over her, Gid. I am really quite not taken with her anymore. I understood we were never meant to be years ago, it’s just… I have trouble connecting with other women.” Gideon sighed.

“I get it, but then don’t date other women. Date men. Or don’t date anyone. Stop giving girls like Gracie false hope. She was very smitten with you.” Gideon grinned, his voice getting back to a normal volume. “You should learn from me. Everybody gets a taste.” Fabian rolled his eyes.

“You should at least act like you’re a little bit ashamed.”

“About my insane popularity? You wish.” A second after Gideon’s words, Molly’s bedroom burst open, and Audrey appeared outside, looking tired but happy.

“Gideon, Fabian, Molly wants you to come in.” Fabian and Gideon looked at each other for a second, before walking up to Audrey. As they had stopped growing, they finally looked like twins, even more so the days they decided to mess with people and wear matching outfits. In a coordinated stride, they entered Molly’s bedroom, and saw her sister and Arthur holding a baby each. Molly was red in the face with exhaustion, and sweat trickled on her brow but, other than that, she seemed okay. She turned to them when they came in, and beamed.

“Come on, get closer.” She said, handing the baby she held to Fabian. The one Arthur held, was handed to Gideon. “They are Fred,” she pointed at the baby Fabian held.

“And George,” Arthur added, pointing to the baby Gideon held. Fabian and Gideon stood speechless for a second, finally, Gideon’s mouth broke into a grin.

“Oh, come on, it sounds as though you’re naming them after us,” said Gideon.

“You’re gonna make us cry,” Fabian agreed. Molly rolled her eyes.

“Just shut up and be grateful, you two.” Each brother looked down at their twin, and then smiled at each other.

“You better give Molls lots of trouble, little guy.” Gideon told his twin.

“You’ve got to ensure there’s always laughter and she never gets bored,” Fabian told his.

“Now, now, don’t give my children any ideas,” but she was smiling all the same. “You just have to promise me you’ll stick around to watch them grow.” Fabian and Gideon smirked and shrugged, like it was no big deal.

“Wouldn’t miss it for the world,” they said in unison.

 

Andromeda held Ted’s hand excitedly as the Hogwarts Express came to a halt. It felt as if it had been only yesterday that she had ran away with Ted from that very platform—Ted had kissed her passionately when they’d just crossed the magical barrier, probably inspired by the same memory. Lots of parents were waiting restlessly for their children, and Andromeda wondered if that would be what she’d feel like when Dora was old enough to go to Hogwarts. It was crazy how rapidly children grew, it was as if a week ago they were meeting baby Bill and getting married, and all of a sudden Dora was five years old. She and Charlie were good friends, which was always a comfort, since she spent almost every day at the Weasleys’, while she and Ted were at work. Right then, students began stepping down and out of the train. Andromeda caught sight of her cousin immediately, he was hugging a group of other three boys merrily, clearly setting the date of their next meeting. One of them, a handsome wizard with glasses and messy hair, got away from them as quickly as he could, and ran up to a beautiful redhead, and buried his face in hers, a passionate kiss that made Andromeda raise an eyebrow. She turned to Ted.

“We weren’t like that, were we?” Ted chuckled.

“We were exactly like that. More dramatic, even, eloping right after.” Andromeda grinned with the memory.

“Yeah, you’re right.” The boy with the glasses and the redhead walked up to where Sirius and the other boys were still talking. Andromeda didn’t want to interrupt their goodbyes, so she stood there, looking around, until she suddenly spotted Dorcas in the midst of the crowd. “Dory!” She called, excitedly. Dorcas’s dark eyes looked for her face and she made an expression of surprise when she spotted her. Andromeda soon realised she was holding hands with a blonde girl that had her luggage with her. They came quickly near her.

“Before you say anything,” Dorcas began, “Marlene is eighteen. Her birthday was in May, and we only got together last summer.” The gorgeous looking witch next to Dorcas had a feisty expression, as if daring her to say anything negative about them. Ted and Andromeda limited themselves to laugh.

“I wasn’t going to say anything but ask you how you were. I’ve heard you’ve been made an Auror? Congrats!” Dorcas seemed ashamed to have doubted Andromeda, whereas Marlene’s lips broke into a broad grin.

“She is amazing, isn’t she? I keep telling her, but she always acts like it isn’t a big deal.”

“You two look very happy, I’m glad you’re doing well in spite of everything that’s going on,” Ted added.

“Yeah…” everybody’s expressions went grim for a second. “You should join the Order, Ted, Andy, we could use the extra help.” Andromeda was already shaking her head.

“I know it may not seem like enough of a reason, but I need my daughter to have as much of a normal childhood as she can. If you ever need a safehouse, however, a field hospital of sorts… you can count on us.” Ted nodded. They had discussed it a thousand times already, he knew there was no changing her mind, and had even began to agree with her. They were a family, they needed to stick together, protect their daughter.

“I understand,” Dorcas said, not a trace of resentment in her voice. “I’ll take you up on that offer.”

“Anyway, Sirius is saying his goodbyes now, so we should probably go now,” Ted pointed out.

“You know Sirius?” Marlene seemed surprised. It suddenly dawned on them that they had not introduced themselves.

“This is Marlene McKinnon. She’s Diana’s sister.” At these words, Andromeda realised their resemblance. Merlin, she hadn’t seen Diana in so long. “These are Ted and Andy, Marlene. They were in my year. Ted was Head Boy with me. Andy is Sirius’s cousin.” Marlene’s eyes widened with surprise.

“Weren’t all of Sirius’s relatives awful?” Andromeda grinned.

“I  _ am _ pretty awful, if I do say so myself,” Ted shook his head, rolling his eyes. “But our relatives are much more awful, al—”

“Andy!” Sirius interrupted their conversation. Andromeda turned to him and they hugged tightly, a sudden solemn atmosphere enveloping them. Andromeda hadn’t seen Sirius since he had told her he’d run away from home. They had written each other plenty, and Andromeda didn’t blame him, she was just probably not as much fun as his friends. She’d missed him dearly, nonetheless, most terribly, specially, when their uncle had died. They separated grinning, their hearts lighter, the burden of their grief less heavy now they knew it was shared. Andromeda ruffled his hair affectionately.

“We know you probably have plans with your friend’s family. We just wanted to greet you and congratulate you on graduating from Hogwarts.”

“And to invite you to dinner next weekend,” Ted added.

“Of course I’ll be there.”

“Sirius, you told me you hated everyone in your family,” Marlene asked, puzzled.

“I do hate everyone in my family,” Sirius assured her. “Andromeda isn’t a part of it anymore, she got disowned, just like me.”

“We’re The Blasted,” he and Andromeda said in unison, grinning broadly. Dorcas and Ted chuckled, and Marlene looked at Andromeda again, like she hadn’t seen her properly the first time around. She shared that same regal happiness in her face that Sirius had, and that same aura of rebelliousness. Two qualities that she’d never seen in the only other relative of Sirius she’d ever met, Narcissa, who’d been in sixth year when they’d entered Hogwarts. She was happy to see Sirius was not quite as alone in the world as she’d thought him.


	38. never have i ever

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had to edit some of the previous chapters cos I'm re-reading the books while I'm writing this and I realised most wizarding homes have charms against apparition so whoopsies! had to fix that.

Andromeda could’ve never anticipated the wave of bad news that was approaching them. The first deaths were unexpected but not mourned. Orion Black had died on February, 1979.

“That old git” was all Sirius had said for any eulogy, a little drunk, in her kitchen. It was later Regulus who’d kicked it, branded a coward. There was no body to bury and, anyway, having defected the Death Eaters and fallen in disgrace, it was unlikely his family would’ve paid him any respects had they retrieved his corpse. Sirius seemed to take his death a little more hard, mainly because he thought Regulus was only what his parents had made him, and he pitied him.

The Order had recruited more wizards and witches over the next few years but it hadn’t been enough: the Death Eaters still outnumbered them twenty to one and, as they had no idea what Voldemort was up to, they were walking in the dark. Not long after Sirius’s graduation, the Death Eaters were targeting not only muggles and muggleborns, but also members of the Order. The Tonks’s residence saw many wizards and witches in and out, and Andromeda could not help but feel relieved she’d stopped Ted from joining. Some of the members of the Order did not make it to get patched up by her. Some of them weren’t even found.

1981 began with her having to leave St. Mungo’s—the Death Eaters had infiltrated the hospital, and she’d barely escaped. Ted, on the other hand, was almost never home, he had to Obliviate muggles nearly every hour. The very first week of January, two days after Dora’s eighth birthday, Fabian apparated in Andromeda’s kitchen with a nasty cut across his chest, and another two across his back. It had been a hassle, figuring out a way to let members of the Order apparate inside her home to ensure prompt attention, without hindering the house’s security. Dumbledore had achieved it, of course. Nymphadora was the first to notice Fabian bleeding out in their kitchen. They barely ever left the house now, Andromeda busy with all the injured incomers.

“Mum! Uncle Fabian is bleeding to death in the kitchen!” As much as Andromeda had wanted Dora to have a normal childhood, it was now impossible to hide the horrors of war from her. Instead, she had permitted Dora to help out with healing patients, putting her in charge of delivering potions and announcing incomers. Andromeda apparated in their kitchen, not wanting to waste a second.

“Oh Merlin, Fabe, what happened to you?” She helped him lay flat on the kitchen floor while she tore open his shirt and examined his wounds. She turned to her daughter. “Dora, sweetie, can you bring me a clotting potion?” Dora nodded, and busied herself looking around in the kitchen cabinet her mum kept stocked with several healing potions lately.

“I don’t know, some curse. Mad-eye told me to watch out, but I wasn’t quick enough.” Dora handed her mother the potion, and Andromeda put it to his lips.

“Now, drink this.” Fabian complied, and a few minutes later his bleeding had stopped. Andromeda helped him up when she thought he could sit, and began tracing his cuts carefully with her wand, watching them close, leaving pink marks behind. “Fabe, why are you doing this? It’s too dangerous. Molly is beside herself with worry everyday hoping that you and Gid don’t get killed.”

“We have to put an end to this. We’ve incarcerated several Death Eaters by now. The Aurors have been given permission to kill. It’s for our loved ones, Andy. For Molly, Arthur, Bill, Charlie, Fred, George, Ted, Dora, you…” he winced as Andromeda bandaged him. “We cannot keep on living like this, in terror.” Andromeda sighed, she knew there was no turning him around.

“Please promise me you’ll be careful.”

“I promise.”

“Was Gid with you when you got injured?”

“Yeah, but he’s fine. He got away in time.” She finished the bandage and put her hand on his shoulder.

“You’re all set. I’ll kill you myself if you go back into battle before your injuries have fully healed.” She waved her wand and the kitchen was clean, Fabian’s blood gone.

 

A week before Ted’s twenty eighth birthday, he apparated in their kitchen, bleeding from a cut on his forehead, above his left brow. Andromeda had hurried to tend to him, instructing Dora to watch over Marlene and Mad-eye, both of whom were recovering in their sitting room.

“What the hell happened, Ted? Are you alright?” Ted frowned, his cut bleeding more profusely as he did so.

“It looks worse than it is. I’m actually quite fine. I’m just furious.” He threw his briefcase against the wall, wrathful. “They turned on me, bloody hell,  _ they turned on me _ . My own coworkers. Can you believe it, Dromeda?” She was patting his cut with gauze, quite indifferent to his temper outbursts, though—she had to admit—she’d never seen Ted quite so mad. “Worked with them for years. I went to Berger’s anniversary dinner just a few months ago, she and her wife were ever so happy to see me, back then. Trevino and I would always talk about Dora and his son, every single bloody day. They didn’t even blink, when they told me it was better for them if I didn’t come back to the Ministry. Threatened to hex me if I didn’t leave in peace.” Andromeda frowned, looking at his cut.

“I take it you didn’t leave quietly.”

“You’re bloody right I didn’t. I do not stand by such gross discrimination. I’m the best they’ve got! I make the most believable Obliviating charms. They keep sending muggles on errands… some muggles don’t have any errands to run!”

“ _ Mon nounours _ , I had to flee St. Mungo’s. Honestly, I’m surprised it took this long for the Ministry to send the muggleborns home. They want to reduce the casualties that can be pinned on them. I’m not saying it’s right,” she hurried to add, when she saw the alarm on his face. “They are cowards. They should stand by their employees. At the same time, I cannot deny it grants me infinite relief you’ll be here where we can watch over each other. The most talented wizards and witches are struggling, and it’s only a time before they come for us.”

“We won’t make it easy for them if they try.” She nodded.

“Of course not, but that’s exactly why I want you here.”

 

It was the calm before the storm. Page Podmore’s death had shaken them and taken them by surprise. It united them, for however brief the funeral was—could not risk to be gathered in the open for too long. Sturgis, his younger brother, had been distraught, ever more committed to the Order’s cause, decided to avenge his brother. She’d seen Sirius for the first time in months, glad to know he was alive. He’d been mostly back and forth at the Potter’s checking on them and delivering supplies. Being one of the Order’s Healers, Andromeda was caught up with much that had been going on. Alice and Frank Longbottom, and James and Lily Potter, had had to go into hiding, both women still pregnant, their children in grave danger. Why? Andromeda did not know. She didn’t  _ personally _ know them, she’d only seen pictures, tended to Alice’s injuries once, and she’d heard bits and pieces from the people that passed by her home. Remus—whose injuries she’d treated twice—had gone missing in action, nobody knew his whereabouts. Some people doubted his loyalty.

Some people from the Order, mostly her friends, had stopped at her place for some tea after Podmore’s funeral, where they talked about the memories they still had of Podmore. Him teasing Andromeda only to be threatened by her, him making out with Gideon, him losing his Quidditch position to Ted.

Nevertheless, Andromeda wasn’t able to shake the memory of Sturgis’s empty gaze for weeks. She had the constant fear in the back of her mind of ever getting said gaze. That day, however, she allowed herself to be happy. She and Ted were celebrating ten years of marriage, and after making sure all the defensive spells were intact, they proceeded to set a table on the backyard, fairy lights providing light in the approaching dusk. They’d married a 2 July, and the evening was as nicely warm as it had been that day. Dora was rocking her favourite overall, which was green, with painted sunflowers on it. Soon enough, all their friends—except for Ted’s parents, whom they had convinced to go visit Ted’s relatives in the US until further notice—were sitting in the backyard, drinking butterbeer and firewhisky. It looked more like a school reunion than an anniversary party. A lot of yearmates of their from Hogwarts that were with the Order had ended up in their backyards, parties too few by then to miss out.

“To the happy couple,” Gideon said, raising his glass. “In all honesty, I don’t know how you’ve put up with Andy all these years, Ted.” Ted chuckled.

“I’m lucky she’s put up with me, Gideon.”

“Sometimes it feels like it was only yesterday when Andy told me she liked Rabastan Lestrange,” Juno confessed. A general ‘ohh’ swept the backyard, urging Juno to go on with the gossip. Andromeda rolled her eyes, but did not stop the story.

“I remember that,” Fabian agreed. “Flipped at me when I implied he wasn’t a good person because he was in Slytherin.” There was general laughter.

“I, on the other hand, remember when Ted here used to hide from Andy because of something mean Black told him on his first year. Such a grudge-y little boy.” Demeter reminisced.

“I just wanted some peace and quiet,” Ted defended himself.

“Imagine she’d given you that,” Dorcas said, “where would you’ve ended up? Nobody else could match up to you, Head Boy.” She was holding hands with Marlene, their fingers interlaced, Marlene blushing furiously from the firewhisky. “By the way, I’m still appalled I wasn’t at your wedding.” Ted looked bewildered.

“You told me you couldn’t make it!”

“And that’s when you should’ve rescheduled it!” She rolled her eyes. “Seriously…”    Andromeda stared at her husband, who was sitting next to her. The world was falling apart, but she couldn’t help but feel like everything couldn’t be so bad when Ted was right there beside her. She kissed his cheek tenderly, and he smiled. She rested her head on his shoulder, their hands together like they’d been since the end of their fourth year. Maybe soulmates didn’t exist, but Andromeda and Ted felt like they came bloody close. Dorcas stood up suddenly and her eyes drifted towards her. “Alright, Marlene has already told her friends, but I thought a wedding anniversary party was a more auspicious occasion to tell you.” She lifted her hand, a ring on her finger. “We—”

“Are getting married!” Marlene finished, standing up to kiss her fiancé.

“As soon as we get some peace and quiet long enough to get our families together in the same place,” Dorcas added. Everybody burst with excitement and congratulations.

“To Dory and Marlene!” Gideon cried, and everybody echoed him.

“We should play ‘Never have I ever’,” Caradoc suggested when it was late, and Dora was upstairs in her bed, sleeping.

“Mate, what memories. I haven’t played that since I was in seventh year,” Diana voiced.

“Ok, so, I’ll start cute and innocent,” Gideon announced, “never have I ever had feelings for someone.” Everybody complained, but they all drank nonetheless, all except for Caradoc.

“Oh, come on, Gid, you can do better than that.” Andromeda said. “Never have I ever made out with someone in an empty classroom.” Again, all drank, and this time Caradoc took a sip as well.

“Never have I ever kissed a boy,” Dorcas announced with a smug grin, and Andromeda, Gideon, Diana, Caradoc, Juno, and Marlene drank down. Dorcas seemed surprised. “You’ve kissed boys, Marls?” She shrugged.

“I was exploring my options,” she gave her a peck on the cheek. “Of course I only kiss you now.” There was a general ‘awww’.

“Never have I ever dated a Slytherin,” Diana said with proud, but soon saw Juno and Andromeda’s frowns and smiled apologetically. Dedalus shrugged and drank, whereas Ted kissed Andromeda’s hand first then drank proudly.

“Never have I ever caught Gideon making out with someone,” Fabian proposed, and everyone took a sip.

“Now, dear brother, you’re making me sound like an exhibitionist.”


	39. they died like heroes

They began dropping dead like flies, one after the other. Podmore had only been the first. Not a week after Andromeda and Ted’s wedding anniversary, the Dark Mark had appeared above the McKinnons’ house. ‘Dark, silent, and full of dead bodies’ Andromeda read on the  _ Prophet _ . Her veins chilled. They had been laughing and drinking firewhisky in her backyard a few days ago, fearlessly and carelessly, and now she was gone.  _ Dorcas _ . She began crying in the living room, empty for the first time in days, and Ted ran in from the kitchen when he heard her sobbing.

“What are we going to do, Ted? First Podmore, now the McKinnons.” She handed him the paper. “Are all our friends going to die? They were going to get married, Ted.” Ted was tearing up now, too. He still wiped her tears off her face with his thumbs, lovingly.

“We just have to do our best so this war is over. That’s why I wanted to join the Order—”

“Surviving tramps being a hero, Ted.”

“I know. I wasn’t trying to convince you to let me join now. We have Dora to look after. My point is that contributing is the only way to remain sane. Healing the members of the Order that appear injured in our home, hoping one of them gets You-Know-Who right in the chest.”

“If only it were so simple…” she sobbed into her husband’s chest, as she was growing accustomed to do, as sad as that was. She stopped abruptly, though, when she heard her daughter’s footsteps down the stairs.

“Mum, dad, is everything okay?” She said, noticing her mother’s wet cheeks and red eyes, and her father’s watery eyes.

“It’s alright, sweetie.” Andromeda assured her.

“War is just a terrible thing, Dora,” Ted added.

 

War was a terrible thing, indeed. It was only the day after Andromeda’s twenty-eighth birthday. They were playing Exploding Snap with Dora and Sirius, who got injured and was forced by Andromeda to sit it out at least for a day, when Fenwick appeared in their fireplace. He was unharmed and his expression was grim, which could only mean one thing: bad news.

“Tonks,” he said.

“What?” Andromeda and Ted replied in unison.

“I meant Ted,” he corrected himself.

“It’s Demie.” A sudden silence took hold of the room, eerily.

“Is she…?” He couldn’t bring himself to say his friend was dead. Apparently, neither could Fenwick, as he simply nodded, somberly.

“Thank you for letting us know,” Ted said, his voice breaking.

“Also… Dorcas left in a rush three days ago, saying she was going to take Voldemort down herself. We have been unable to locate her.” Sirius stood up.

“She did what?”

“Don’t move so brusquely, Sirius, your wounds will open.”

“She went to avenge Marls on her own! How could you leave her alone for long enough to let her do something so stupid!” Sirius was now holding Fenwick by the collar of his shirt.

“I wasn’t the one watching her!”

“Well you should’ve!” He was being unreasonable, as he was hurt, and he knew it. He finally put Fenwick down. Fenwick nodded for all goodbye, and he stepped back into the hearth. Ted left for their bedroom, and Andromeda made a quick gesture to Sirius to stay with Dora before following him. He was sitting on their bed, crying softly. He was too beautiful, she thought. The soft summer sun filtered warmly through the window ironically, and made his hair shine like reaped wheat. His brown eyes, lighter than her own, shone handsomely with the wetness of tears. She knelt in front of him, her hands on his knees. He interlaced his fingers with hers.

“She is my best friend,” he said.

“I know.”

“You know she kissed me in fourth year?” Andromeda raised an eyebrow, but said nothing. “It wasn’t like what you’d think. She isn’t like that, Demie.” He stifled a sob. “Was.” He let go of the sob. He didn’t wail, like some people do when a loved one died. He sobbed almost quietly, which seemed only more heartbreaking. “She wasn’t like that. She didn’t care for relationships or anything of the sort, she said she didn’t like chaining people down. She only cared for beautiful people. Ironically, we were talking about you.” He looked at his wife, who by then was crying as well, though not as heartfeltly as he was. He smiled at her between tears. He couldn’t help himself, he loved her so. “She was telling me once again I was smitten with you and I should face it and ask you out.” He chuckled and sobbed at the same time, which ended up sounding more like a hiccough than anything else. “Of course, I hadn’t realised how I felt, so I just laughed and told her to drop it. She stared at me for a second and told me I was one of the prettiest boys she’d ever met, and asked me if she could kiss me. ‘Just once, I promise’, she said.” He sobbed again. “I agreed. It was a nice kiss, even if I didn’t feel anything but friendly affection for her, and vice versa.” Ted leaned forward, his forehead resting on his wife’s shoulder, sobbing freely. “She was my best friend.” Andromeda said nothing. She stroked his hair sweetly and, after a while, she put her hands to his cheeks and stared deep into his eyes. His sobbing subsided, although a few tears still ran down his face. She kissed his tears, delicately.

“I’ll love you through all of this,  _ mon nounours _ .” His eyes locked with hers, and he kissed her. They kissed the sadness out of each other.

“Now, Dora,” Sirius warned his niece in the living room. “If you ever have children, don’t ever dump them on someone else while you go have fun with your partner.” Dora rolled her eyes.

“They’re not having fun. Dad was sad, so mum is comforting him.”

“She’s comforting him alright,” he replied, smirking.

 

People kept dying. The  _ Prophet _ could not keep up. Neither could the wireless. Andromeda did not know what was worse: all the deaths, not knowing about them, or knowing about them. Edgar Bones and his family had all been brutally murdered by Death Eaters on a quiet night the 8 of September. His parents had been murdered by Voldemort only two months before. Then, came Dorcas. She’d actually infiltrated the Death Eaters, and must have figured something out because, when she deserted them and tried to make her way back to the Order, Voldemort tracked her down and killed her himself. His secrets had died with her. She’d been so much more meticulous and fierce than they’d given her credit for. She had actually devised a plan, but she could not escape death.

Andromeda met her limit a rainy 20 of September. She was braiding Dora’s hair, which was always a hassle, as her daughter liked to make it shorter as she worked to annoy her. A silvery weasel showed up while Ted walked into Dora’s room with freshly baked cookies.

“It’s Arthur’s,” Ted observed. Sure enough, the weasel spoke with Arthur’s voice.

“Andy, dear. Ted. It’s Fabian and Gideon. They’re—well, they’re dead. Died in battle. Took five Death Eaters to do them in. I thought you should know.” The weasel vanished. Andromeda gave a high pitched moan, and began crying on the spot. She thought maybe she was dreaming it, but Arthur’s words resonated in her ears. ‘Fabian and Gideon... they’re dead.’ Dora, next to her, began to cry as well. Gideon had been her godfather after all, and he always played pranks on people with her when they met at The Burrow. Ted was also crying. Andromeda felt her heart burning, her chest tightening. They couldn’t be dead. Not Fabian. She cared for him, he was a good friend. He was loyal. She knew she could always count on him. She could not even bring herself to process the death of Gideon. Not… not Gideon. Not Gideon, her friend, her beloved friend. The Gideon who had first talked to her in flying lessons, using stupid corny phrases. Gideon, who had told her it had been cool for her to threaten Podmore. Gideon, who had entered his House’s Quidditch team on second year, just as he’d said he would. Gideon, who’d thought she would turn her back on him for making out with Podmore. Gideon, who’d had her back countless times, who’d held her hand when she was scared, had told her words of encouragement when she needed them. She loved him. She loved him so much, she felt the air escape her lungs. Gideon was a part of her, just as much as her hands, just as much as her liver.

The funeral was brief and it was sombre. Molly and Andromeda’s sobs were the most audible above the crowds’, albeit this was not due to them being loud but due to the rest being unusually quiet. Dora cried holding hands with Bill and Charlie. Andromeda wanted to lie there and be buried with her friend. She held onto Ted like he was life. She doubted she would ever be able to be happy again if it weren’t by the gentle wizard that passed his fingers through her hair soothingly. Not Gideon. He knew her like nobody else. Her husband was her rock and sunshine, but Gideon was the lively unexpected summer rain, the mischievous moon, the playful autumn leaves. She needed his joy, his smirk. He was her confident. Juno cried a few people away. Rose hadn’t had the decency of showing her face. Gideon had been her friend, too. Andromeda cried. Nearly everyone she knew was dead. Fabian, Diana, Dorcas, Demeter, Podmore, Marlene… for all she knew, even more people were dead. The war was still far from over and so many people had died. They had died, and there would be more deaths. They had died. Gideon had died. Gideon. Gid.


	40. secret keeper

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologise for the long time between of each chapter but it's that time of the uni term. On the bright side, I have already passed three out of my five courses. So cheers.

She’d been unable to sleep for a week. She spent her nights in constant search for the last words Gideon had ever said to her. What had they been? She felt she hadn’t seen him in ages, before the news of his death had reached her. When she wasn’t trying to remember what had been his last words to her, she’d wonder who had killed him. Who had taken so much away from her. ‘Five Death Eaters’ was all she had and, had she not feared for the safety of her family, she would’ve left the very moment the funeral was over in search for them. She wouldn’t have blinked before killing them. She cried herself to sleep for a month, Ted pretended not to notice, for her privacy’s sake, but she always found tissues by her bedside when she needed them. The members of the Order kept arriving with injuries that became more and more serious.

“Dumbledore suspects it’s one of us,” Dedalus told her as she tried to find a Potion to stop him from bleeding out, his wounds weren’t responding to her usual Healing charms. “There have been too many preventable deaths. No one was supposed to know where the McKinnons were hiding. The Bones? Dumbledore was silent for fifteen minutes straight when he found out they’d been killed. The Prewetts died in battle, yes, but they were carrying out a secret mission no one should’ve known about.” Andromeda gritted her teeth at the mention of her friends. She figured Dedalus was as angry about it as she was. Fabian and him had been in the same year and House.

“Who do you reckon it is, then?”

“I have no idea. These people have fought alongside me. Maybe some of our allies… but there’re very few of you, and you get very limited information, usually after the things have happened. When someone suggested it…” Andromeda put a potion to his lips and he drank, his wound ceasing to bleed on the spot. “I told them they were mad. Bones’s parents are dead, so it couldn’t have been them. Juno manages even less information than you, for her safety, of course. Molly and Arthur, you and Ted… well, Fabian and Gideon. You’d have never betrayed them. You loved Gideon, and Fabian would’ve done anything for you. No. It has to be someone from the Order.”

“If I ever learn who did this… I’ll hunt them down myself.”

“You won’t be the only one trying to get them.”

“I’d like to see them try and stop me from getting there first.”

 

“The war is over!” Juno yelled as she ran in from the fireplace. “The war is over!” Andromeda and Ted turned around in the kitchen, surprised, and Dora was already hugging her godmother, with a smile on her face. They had been readying themselves to go to bed.

“What? How?” Andromeda wondered.

“Are you for real?” Juno’s face became very serious as she collected her joy to tell them the full account.

“Al just told me. The Potters… James and Lily, He Who Must Not Be Named got to them. He killed them. But their child, Harry, he survived! Nobody knows how, not even Dumbledore, but he did! You Know Who perished at the hands of a little baby!” Andromeda and Ted gasped.

“Poor child! Orphan, and so little! And James and Lily… we only saw them once, from afar, but everybody speaks so highly of them, it’s a terrible fate for a couple like that, for anyone, really.” Ted seemed very shaken. “Who’s gonna take care of their child?”

“Well, Dumbledore’s gonna take care of that, of course.”

“Why not Sirius? He was his godfather after all.” Juno looked harassed. Andromeda got a sinking feeling. She wasn’t ready for this. “How did Voldemort get to them? Didn’t they have a Fidelius charm on their home? How did this happen?” Andromeda was confused. The truth was right in front of her, but she didn’t want to face it.

“Andy, I think you might want to take a seat…” she gestured Ted to bring a stool, and so he did, and helped his wife sit on it. She wouldn’t take her eyes off her friend.

“Juno, for the love of Merlin, please tell me.”

“Andy, Sirius has been taken into custody by the Aurors. He is being sentenced without a trial… Barty Crouch pushed for it. He—Andy, everybody says he betrayed the Potters, that he was a Death Eater all along. He was their Secret Keeper, no one else could’ve told Voldemort, and he—they’re saying he killed his friend Peter, too. Made an explosion and took twelve muggles alongside with Peter. Andy he’s been sentenced to life in Azkaban…” Half their glasses and plates exploded into a million pieces. Only Ted’s swift wandwork kept them unharmed, and restored the plates and glasses back to normal and into their respective cabinets.

“No! Sirius wouldn’t do it.”

“Andy, I know he was your cousin but—”

“You don’t know Sirius as I do. I’m going down to the Ministry, I’ll testify for him.”

“Sweetie, there’s nothing left to do, there were several eyewitnesses. Cornelius Fudge himself saw Sirius laughing maniacally at the crime scene.”

“You don’t understand. Sirius would never become a Death Eater. He’d die before betraying his friends.” Silence issued. An owl came in through the window. The first one Andromeda had seen in years. Of course, Maia was still with them, but she hadn’t been delivering messages for a long time, what with the war it was long unsafe to send owls. It handed Ted a brief letter. He looked in Juno’s direction.

“They want me back at the Ministry. I’ve got to appear in tomorrow’s news.”

“ _ Now _ they want you. Now they’ve let everyone die and they’ve taken my cousin to Azkaban.”

“Juno, can you stay with her? Make sure she doesn’t make anything rash?” Juno nodded.

“Rash like what?” Andromeda asked, standing from her stool, spinning around to look at her husband. “Rash like going to have a few words with Crouch or rash like hunting down the Death Eaters who took my friends’ lives?” Ted looked her dead in the eye.

“I wanted to fight, I’ve lost people, too. You told me surviving tramps being the hero.” Andromeda opened her mouth to reply, but Ted spoke faster. “And you were right, I do not resent you for it in the least. We have a family to take care of.” He gestured towards their daughter, still hugging her godmother. “Let the Aurors do their jobs. They’ll imprison Fabian and Gideon’s murderers and, if your cousin is indeed innocent, the truth will surface sooner than later.” Andromeda nodded. Merlin, how much she needed her husband. She gave him a quick peck on the lips.

“Promise me you’ll get back as soon as possible.”

“I promise.”

Two days later, her cousin turned twenty two years old while imprisoned in Azkaban. She’d talked with anyone from the Order who’d listen, even Dumbledore himself, but all of them seemed to think the evidence against her cousin was simply too overwhelming. It took her two months to stop having nightmares about her cousin. Ted had to brew her a potion for dreamless sleep, in spite of her constantly saying she didn’t need it. The year ended on a grim note. The first week of December, Caradoc went missing. Andromeda froze. Were they to live in fear forever? But the answer soon came around. The second week of December, she sat at Antonin Dolohov’s trial, accused of the murders of countless wizards and witches but, most importantly to her, the murders of Fabian and Gideon Prewett. She sat there by Molly, whose several children were being watched by Arthur and Ted, all gathered at The Burrow. Andromeda would’ve been astonished to see Molly with yet another newborn and a toddler at Fabian and Gideon’s funeral, hadn’t grief prevented her from paying attention to anything at all. They held each other’s hand. They kept their eyes fixed on Dolohov, cursing him with their eyes, until he was taken away, sentenced to life imprisonment in Azkaban.

“How is Ginny?” She asked, as they made their way to the Atrium.

“She’s lovely. I always wanted a girl. Now I have her, so no more children for me.” Andromeda smiled sweetly.

“Girls are the best. Sadly, I got a pixie instead of a daughter.”

“Dora is wonderful, Andy, she always behaves so nicely at my home.”

“I wish she kept that behaviour when she returns to mine.” They hugged. Andromeda had been afraid. She’d feared they would be unable to speak properly after what had happened to Fabian and Gideon. Seeing Dolohov sentenced to life imprisonment eased her pain. Life in Azkaban surrounded by dementors was certainly a better repayment for his actions than taking his life in her own hands. Molly seemed relieved as well.

A few days before Christmas, her own sister made the headline of the  _ Prophet _ . She and three other Death Eaters had tortured Alice and Frank Longbottom to insanity. She could not believe her eyes when she read it but, sure enough, there in the paper’s photograph her sister smiled proudly, her eyes showing her insanity. Next to her, were Rodolphus and Rabastan Lestrange, and a young wizard that was barely older than a child.  _ Oh, Merlin _ , she thought, remembering she’d been betrothed to Rabastan.  _ I could’ve ended up like them _ . Still, it had ended. The war was over. At least the first war.


	41. ignorance is bliss

She’d seen the notice on the  _ Prophet _ , having lost contact with all her family. Her mother had passed away. She did not feel particularly sad, but a sense of nostalgia invaded her. She would’ve liked it if they could’ve patched things up. The war was over, and her family would have to feign a little tolerance towards muggleborns to survive, she knew that much. After all, her sister was sentenced to life in Azkaban, her cousin Regulus (they’d let her know when the war end’s frenzie had let down) was dead for leaving the Death Eaters, and Sirius was also to serve life in Azkaban—for a crime he did not commit, but her family’s name had been dragged through the mud all the same. Her brother in law, Lucius, had narrowly escaped Azkaban claiming he’d been under the Imperius curse. Andromeda did not believe him, but was certain the Ministry had showed him mercy because, unlike many other Death Eaters, Lucius and Narcissa had a young son (and they were disgustingly rich). She’d expected Narcissa to try and get in touch with her, but alas that did not happen. Still, Andromeda was happy to find some peace and quiet at last, knowing her family was finally safe.

She was back to work at St. Mungo’s, and Dora stayed at the Weasleys’ during the day. There was so much to do at the hospital, so many people turning up with curses and injuries they’d been unable to treat during the war, fearing for their lives (on top of St. Mungo’s having been ridden by Death Eaters). Ted’s parents had come back from Florida and were as old as she’d ever seen them, the worry and the uncertainty had clearly taken a toll on them. Millicent Bagnold, Minister for Magic, was doing her best to restore normality. She was reading so in the paper on a Saturday morning—a habit she’d picked up from her father against her will—when Juno walked into her kitchen and helped herself to a scone fresh from the over. Ted wanted nothing to do with store-bought baked goods. Andromeda raised her cup to her lips, she’d gotten used to Juno springing out of her fireplace unannounced.

“Morning,” she said.

“Morning,” the three Tonks said in unison. She made a face when she saw Ted, then smiled overtly politely.

“Ted, haven’t you considered joining a Quidditch team now all the options are open?” He looked at her curiously, but shook his head all the same.

“I’ve become quite fond of my job, Juno. I’m an amazing newscaster, my mother says so. I can’t deny it pays well, too. Quidditch cannot compare, and it would be quite the unwise move. I’m twenty-nine, I’d only have a couple seasons in me before they force me to retire.”

“Vanessa would think you’d make a superb sweeper if it came to that. You’re her son. And, nonsense, I give you a decade of steady playing before they even dream of replacing you.”

“Are you recruiting me?” She laughed.

“I’m in the Harpies, Ted. They’d kick me off the team for even suggesting bringing a man on the team.” She turned to Andromeda. “You, however… if you are ever interested before you turn thirty, I don’t think we could find a better Chaser. You were simply magnificent in school.”

“Mum played Chaser?” Dora seemed impressed. Juno smiled.

“Of course she did. She was the best Chaser the Slytherin team had seen in years. Sadly, she was forcefully benched for two seasons by some of our stubborn housemates.” She clicked her tongue. “Zabini nearly broke his broom in frustration when they benched her, and then nearly broke it on Lestrange’s head when we lost the Cup.” She giggled for a second, the reminiscence too beautiful and golden, the present reality so stark in comparison. “I can’t believe we were all friends.”

“Friends is a bit of a stretch,” Andromeda corrected her.

“Friend-ly, same difference.” Andromeda rolled her eyes.

“What’s the interest in having me play Quidditch, then?” Ted said, his hand resting absent-mindedly on Andromeda’s thigh.

“Well,” Juno shrugged and tried to downplay it as much as she could, “you’ve been putting on some weight of late, Ted. It looks like your metabolism misses the exercise.”

“I have  _ not _ —” he saw Juno shaking her head disapprovingly. “Oh, come on, Juno. It’s barely anything. It’s just a little pregnancy weight.” Dora snorted.

“I am  _ nine _ . The pregnancy ended years ago. You better lay off the cookies.”

“Andromeda’s attention will wonder off if—”

“It will not,” she said, the tone of her voice made it final. “I love my husband. Extra pounds or not, I think he looks dashing.” She said so confidently, but her cheeks were tainted the slightest shade of pink. Ted beamed and kissed her hand.

“Hear that? My wife says I look dashing. The wife has the final say.” Juno sighed, defeated.

“You two are disgusting,” Dora nodded in agreement with her godmother. Andromeda cackled.

“Yeah, like you’re not the same with Al.” Juno’s eyes lowered immediately, a shade of sadness staining her features.

“We’re not together anymore,” she confessed. Andromeda stood up swiftly and guided her friend towards her bedroom for some privacy, not without complaints from Dora, who thought she was entitled to be a part of the conversation as well.

“What happened? You’ve been together for so long…”

“Sixteen years.” She said, a lonely tear running down her cheek. “We’ve been together for sixteen years.” Andromeda patted her friend’s back, soothingly. “He wasn’t cruel or anything, and I understand him—he said he doesn’t feel the same anymore. He’s had a crush on a wizard for a couple months now… of course he’d never cheat on me. But he wants to try with him and, well, I don’t fit into that scheme.” A couple more tears crept down her face. Her heart was broken past any sobbing. “It would be cool if I felt similarly, but I still love him. All and with his weird love of hats he’s developed of late, I love him.” Suddenly, she began shaking and sobbing, but it had nothing to do with Dedalus, and Andromeda had a foreboding of what it was about.

“I miss him, Andy,” she sobbed, Andromeda already joining her in the crying. “He would’ve offered to date me to take my mind off Al. Or setting me up with wizards that are ‘OK although never as handsome as me’” she mimicked Gideon.

“I miss him, too.” Andromeda’s heart broke whenever she thought of Gideon. He should’ve been there, with them, enjoying the peace after the war.

“Don’t you dare die on me, ever.”

“Don’t you dare either.” Their tears made them feel a bit more lightweight. Gideon was definitely in their hearts forever, his love would never fade, and he’d never truly leave them. That was their comfort: they’d loved him in life, and he’d loved them back.

She woke up in a brake of cold sweat, the nightmares had began haunting her ever since she’d decided it was time to let go of the Dreamless Potion. The first rays of sunlight filtered through the curtains.  _ Brilliant, I won’t get any more sleep now _ , she thought. At her side, Ted stirred, having felt her startled awakening.

“Are you alright?” He said, seeing her alert state, the paleness in her face. His eyes were blue in the break of the morning. She felt the warmth make its way back to her limbs. His hair was messy, and an incipient beard showed he’d forgotten to shave the previous night. She passed her fingers through his hair, putting it back into place in a gentle motion.

“I am now.” She leant to kiss him. He smiled against his lips, and she felt his hands at her waist, holding her adoringly. “You’re very handsome first thing in the morning.”

“I am very untidy first thing in the morning. Smelly even.” Andromeda smiled and kissed his jaw, then proceeded to bury her face in his chest, resting her entire weight on Ted in a slow movement, so as not to hurt him.

“I like how you smell.” She said into his shirt. She felt his ribs shaking as he chuckled.

“You sound like a love-crazed teenager.”

“I am very much in love with you, Ted,” she said, assertively and defiantly, raising her head in a regal manner to look at her husband. He felt his heart tremble. The sudden realisation hit them both, almost euphorical. They were  _ alive _ , the war was over. They were alive and they were together. She was beautiful, with her hair all messy, a stranged sleep in her eye, the pinkishness and darkness that shaded her face in all places before she put on makeup.

“I am very much in love with you, too.” He loved her. Loved her as much as he’d loved her the very first day, when she’d inadvertently crept into his heart and claimed him whole. He counted himself lucky, he awoke every day to the woman he loved. He kissed her cheeks, her jaw, her neck. He felt her sigh and kiss his head. The tint on his neck and ears was the same she’d seen in that prefect’s bathroom. She knew her husband like the back of her hand but it only made her want him more. She traced his bare shoulders with languid fingers—his shirt had gone at some moment—and, when he spoke, his voice was hoarse, the way she liked it. “Dromeda…” She felt her brain melt. It was better than the surprises, knowing what you want and how to get it. The predictability might have bored some but it made her feel alive. She’d craved that level of intimacy and familiarity for the longest time. The certainty of identifying someone simply by the sound of their footsteps. Feel his touch like the reliving of a tattoo, his skin seared into hers like a burn, one she’d gladly let show.

“Mrs. Tonks.”

“My wife.” She smiled between shaky breaths, her back arching with yearning. It was what she’d bet everything on: their love. It had already paid her back tenfold.


	42. they grow up fast

They were in the final match of the 1984 season, the Holyhead Harpies versus Puddlemere United. The match would’ve been quite exciting in its own right, the Harpies and Puddlemere long standing rivals. However, they were both at the top of the table, and the match was decisive to determine the winner. Undoubtedly, the Tonks were in the stands dressed in green and gold, rooting for Juno, joined by Amos Diggory and Isabel Fox, both of them supporting their old housemate and yearmate Hazel Noel, one of the current Chasers of the Harpies. Andromeda and Ted had also been greeted by Maddox and Rose, on their way into the pitch.

“Mum can I get some popcorn?” Dora asked, her face painted with green and gold stripes, her hair falling in soft green careful ringlets striped with gold every here and there. Even her eyes were showing team spirit, the left one deep green and the right one bright yellow.

“We already got you some popcorn, which you then proceeded to gift generously to the floor, spilling it everywhere.” She picked a lock of her daughter’s hair, appreciatively. “Don’t you think you’ve gone a bit overboard with your look, sweetie?”

“It’s not my fault, that foot came out of nowhere.” She made a face, and her right eye became green like her left one. “Better? Can I have popcorn now?” Andromeda turned to her husband in look for support but Ted, who’d only heard the last request, took a couple sickles out of his money pouch.

“Here you go,” he said, giving Dora the coins, who jumped in excitement and almost fell onto the spectators in the row below. “Careful, now.” Andromeda saw her daughter leave with growing concern, shaking her head at her husband, who only then realised he’d messed up. “You were telling her off for dropping the first bag of popcorn, weren’t you?”

“Yeah, I was.” Ted smiled apologetically.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to make you look like the bad one.”

“Next time she breaks a plate, it’ll have to be you who tells her off for it.”

“Deal,” he said, taking her hand, and she smiled fondly.

“I really worry for her… one thing is to be a little distracted, like entering an occupied prefects’ bathroom,” she waited for the colour to reach his cheeks and his guilty smile, and was not disappointed. “Another very different thing is to trip and break everything in the vicinity. Do you think she’ll be alright?”

“She’s an incredibly talented witch who used to float around the house as a toddler, and on top of that she’s a metamorphmagus,” Ted smiled comfortingly. “She’s going to be just fine.”

The match was incredible, Andromeda’s throat was sore from all the cheering and angry yelling—she forgot all her etiquette lessons when she was on the bleachers during a Quidditch match. The Harpies had beaten Puddlemere United after a six-hour match, and Juno had taken the snitch.

“Mum, do you think I could play in the Harpies one day?” Andromeda tried to keep a straight face, as her daughter, clumsy as she was, did not inspire in her any confidence in a future as a Quidditch player.

“Of course, sweetheart. You should try playing in your House’s team first.” Dora nodded, holding her father’s hand so as not to get lost in the crowd. “I really do hope I get sorted into Gryffindor, so I can be with Bill and Charlie.” Andromeda and Ted stopped dead in their tracks.

“What is wrong with Hufflepuff?” Ted asked.

“And with Slytherin?” Andromeda echoed him. Dora shrugged. “You should know, Juno was also a Slytherin, we were yearmates and housemates.”

“And Hazel, the Chaser that scored thrice in a row? She was a Hufflepuff, a year older than me at school.”

“It’d be better if I get into Gryffindor,” Dora confessed. “Then I’ll let both of you down, instead of one or the other.”

“You could never let me down, honey,” Ted assured her.

“Which is why it would be better if you got into Slytherin,” Andromeda interjected with a witty smile.

Their visit to Ollivander’s was one that brought many memories, as would all their trips in preparation of Dora’s first year at Hogwarts. They entered the dusty store with a sense of sweet nostalgia, they hadn’t been in there for what felt like ages. A few moments after, Mr. Ollivander peered at them from behind some boxes, his eyes sparking with interest. He looked the same as Andromeda remembered him, the man was most certainly ageless.

“Oh, wonderful, most wonderful,” Ollivander greeted them. “Ah…” he said taking a good look at the family. “Curious combination. Yes, I remember when you came in with your sisters and your mother to buy your wand: elm, dragon heartstring, thirteen inches, flexible, am I correct, uh... I assume it is now Mrs. Tonks?” Andromeda nodded proudly.

“Yes to both.”

“Yes, yes. I remember it perfectly, chose you the moment you stood in the shop, fell off the shelf.” He looked at Ted then back at Andromeda. “I take it your family was not happy about the union. But, alas, I cannot say I myself am disappointed. A beautiful pear wand, unicorn hair, slightly springy, twelve and a half inches, was it not, Mr. Tonks?” Ted smiled, drawing his wand out for confirmation. “And what do we have here?” A measuring tape began fluttering around Dora, while Ollivander observed her. He took notice of Nymphadora’s green hair, who’d been like that since the Harpie’s victory, minus the golden streaks. “Metamorphmagus, goodness.” He retired to the back of the shop and came back a few minutes later. “I believe, this might be a good match.” He opened the box ceremoniously. “Ebony, ten inches, and unicorn hair.” Dora took the wand in her hand and gave it a messy wave. The wand shot a single golden spark out of its tip. “Well, it could do, I suppose, but I believe we can do better. It is the wand that chooses the witch, miss Tonks, and I don’t think this one looks particularly enthusiastic. Maybe something less… smart.” His voice trailed after him as he searched some boxes on the upper shelves. “Your father went through a dozen wands, I was almost convinced he could do no better than an oak wand he tried on his fifth attempt but then…” he descended and opened another dusty box. “I wonder if this one would be a better fit: dogwood, dragon heartstring, twelve inches and a quarter.” Dora took this new wand and at the flick of her wrist, an ink bottle exploded and drenched Ollivander. She couldn’t help but laugh.

“I’m sorry,” she said in between chuckles. Andromeda flicked her wand and the bottle was whole again and the ink had disappeared from Ollivander’s clothes and face.

“Beautiful wandwork, Mrs. Tonks.” He turned to Dora. “Don’t be sorry, miss Tonks, I risked that when I handed you that wand. Dogwood wands have a very particular sense of humour, but I suppose you would, yes, I think that could work.” Dora shot a nervous look to her parents, but they both nodded reassuringly. “I often try with wands similar to the parents’ but… such a rare gift, metamorphmagus…” he disappeared again, to the back of the shop.

“Are you sure he’s gonna find a proper wand? Maybe I should stick with the ebony one,” Dora said.

“You heard him. Took like a million tries to find me a proper wand. I’m sure he’ll find you one.” Sure enough, Ollivander trod back inside carrying another dusty box with a triumphant look on his face.

“Let’s give this one a try. Cypress, eleven and three-quarter inches, phoenix feather, bendy.” Andromeda and Ted knew it immediately, and so did Ollivander, who looked properly smug and fascinated about it: pink sparks surrounded her, and she felt the wand sort of sticking to her hand. “Wonderful! Most interesting, too… I sold a cypress wand not too long ago, though I dare say I do not know what had become of its owner.” On that mysterious note they left the shop, Dora unwilling to put her wand away, now that she had one.

They were standing in King’s Cross excitedly. Dora had made her hair bright pink for the occasion. They had a long-running bet on which House their daughter would get sorted into. In the interest of keeping it a fair competition, and per Ted’s suggestion, they had bet on each other’s House. Ted had his arm around his wife’s shoulders as they waved their daughter off. Arthur and Molly were waving their sons goodbye a few metres away, surrounded by five children, the twins wrecking havoc, annoying their older brother. Andromeda felt her chest tighten as she caught sight of them. They had been named after her friends, and she could not help but feel they carried a bit of their essence with them. Their mischief was nothing short of Gideon’s.

“You know the great thing about Dora leaving?” Ted interrupted her thoughts.

“What?”

“We have the entire house to ourselves again.” Andromeda smiled, letting her husband kiss the pain in her heart away, and she rested her head against his chest, as the Hogwarts Express vanished from sight.

“I love King’s Cross station,” Andromeda confessed. “It reminds me of where we began.”

“Me, too.”

Andromeda did not accept the money from the bet, when Dora was sorted into Hufflepuff and she had won. Ted had to promise to bake strudel to appease her, and he found her willing lo let go of her grudge quite quickly, when bribed with a piece of the baked delicacy. As they had feared, Dora’s passing through Hogwarts was not a quiet one, she kept getting into detention for pranks and morphing into different professors. She failed to become a prefect, like her parents, and she only avoided being grounded over the summers because her grades were pristine. She got ten O.W.L.s in her fifth year and nine N.E.W.T.s. Not before long, they had been standing at King’s Cross waiting for their grown-up daughter, Hogwarts graduate. While Bill had gotten a job in Gringotts as a Curse-Breaker the previous year, and Charlie was leaving for Romania to study dragons, Dora had given her parents the joyous news that she was going to take the examination to become an Auror. Of course, Andromeda was less than thrilled.

“I did not keep you safe through the entire Wizarding War just so that you could go on to risk your life out of your own volition.” She said, during Dora’s first dinner back home after finishing school.

“It is not a question, mum.” She said, her tone was final. Ever since she’d gotten off the train, she’d ditched the pink and turned to a violet tone for her hair, instead. “I’m of age, I can and I will make my own decisions.” Andromeda stared sadly at her plate, it pained her she couldn’t protect her daughter anymore. Ted seemed to pick up on it, because he placed his hand comfortingly on top of hers.

“Just be as safe as you possibly can, Dora. Your mum and I just care for your well-being.” Dora grinned. Her parents were great, even if her mum was a bit pernickety about tidiness, and her dad was a bit too protective of the flowers that he grew in the front lawn.

Things did not become any easier. Just as Dora passed her test to begin Auror training, Harry Potter was to begin his magical education. That filled everyone with expectation and excitement. The 2 of July, however, was reserved for them. Juno, Arthur, and Molly arrived at their house to celebrate their twentieth wedding anniversary. They had given each other gifts following the muggle tradition for the longest time. On their first anniversary, Andromeda had given Ted an origami sculpture, while Ted had given her a scrapbook and a bouquet of carnations, as it was their paper anniversary. On their third anniversary, he’d given her a bouquet of sunflowers and a leatherbound notebook, while she’d gifted him a leather jacket. She found it helpful, actually, sticking to wedding anniversary names, as the material of each year inspired her to get better ideas. For this, their twentieth anniversary, she’d gotten him a set of porcelain pans and he’d given her a porcelain tea set, in which everything had broken and had been put together with gold. A bouquet of asters awaited her as well. She looked forward to their eightieth anniversary: oak, and their ninetieth anniversary: stone. They’d married young, she was confident they would live long enough.

Every year that Harry passed in school, weirder things happened at Hogwarts. On his first year, rumours of Voldemort being alive still began spreading. Andromeda thought of it as a bad omen. Sure enough, on June 1992, her father passed away, as she read on the  _ Prophet _ . She did not think his death fulfilled the ominous sensation she felt about hearing Voldemort being mentioned again, but seized the opportunity to visit Black Garden and go around the empty house. Her aunt Walburga had died in 1985, so Narcissa remained the only Black who could stop her from retrieving whatever she pleased, and Andromeda did not fear her. She’d left nothing vital behind, but if she could recover some of her old treasures, it would please her very much. Sure enough, she found her old handheld mirror, two tiaras, and some forgotten jewellery. Sirius had told her Bellatrix had trashed her room, but as everything was exactly as she had left it twenty two years before, she was certain Lolly had picked up the mess. She also took some photographs from the walls, and a portrait of her and her sisters when they had been eight, six, and four. She did not miss her sisters as they were now, but she did miss them as they had been back then: her friends. She encountered Lolly on her reminiscent tour of the house in which she’d grown up. She almost panicked when she saw her, throwing a fit of devotion at seeing her lost-long mistress.

“Go to Cissy, Lolly. She needs you more than I do. Keep this place clean, though. It might do us some good, in the future.” She told her when she’d recovered from the surprise. Lolly bowed, tearily, and left with a loud  _ crack _ .

On Harry’s second year, the school nearly closed because someone had opened the Chamber of Secrets, and Molly’s daughter had been abducted and had almost died. And then, on June 1993, during a frenetic day at work, the news reached her of a prisoner who had escaped Azkaban. Soon enough, his face was in all the papers and even in the muggle news (Ted had appeared in prime time to deliver the exclusive). Her cousin, Sirius Black, was on the run.


	43. loyalty

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is long overdue, I apologise for it. Merry Christmas!

“If he ever shows up here, you ought to be careful,” Dora said through a mouthful of mashed potatoes, her mother frowning disapprovingly. Although she did still live with them in name, her training missions with the Aurors took her away from home for long periods.

“He is my cousin. If he shows up here, I’ll give him a nice set of clean clothes and a good meal.”

“Mum, I know you loved him, but the evidence against him is overwhelming. Plus, he’s been seen in Hogwarts. He wouldn’t be there if he were innocent. He’s after Harry Potter, I tell you. If he were innocent, he would be here already, seeking shelter.”

“He must be trying to clear his name. He’s been imprisoned unjustly for twelve years, Dora! You knew him, you knew Sirius. You played Gobstones and Exploding Snap, you made sure he drank his Healing Potion when he was recovering from an injury in our living room.” Dora’s certainty of her uncle’s treachery wavered at her mother’s words.

“What do you think?” She turned to her father, whose opinion she always considered less impulsively formed than her mother’s.

“I first met Sirius when he was a child. I do not believe for a second he grew up to become a murderer and a traitor. I trust your mother’s instincts about this. Still, it’s true I would’ve hoped for him to be legally cleared of all charges but, our judicial system is not perfect.” Andromeda smiled at her husband.

“But even Dumbledore doubts him…” her voice trailed off, she wasn’t too convinced now. Her cousin had not been a bad man, she could remember as much. She could remember aunt Juno concerned when she came with the news he’d been imprisoned, her mother in tears.

. . .

A fine warm day of April, 1994, Andromeda came home to find a dog in her kitchen. They stared at each other for what seemed like forever. The black dog was big and it looked famished. She’d heard rumours, during the war.

“Sirius?” The dog only kept staring. Nymphadora was away in a mission, and Ted wouldn’t be home for an hour yet. “It’s alright, no one else is home. It’s safe.” The dog became a man in ragged clothes. He barely looked like her cousin. Still, they hugged for what felt like forever, until Andromeda saw something moving in her backyard. “Is that… is that a hippogriff in my backyard?” Sirius grinned.

“His name is Buckbeak. There’s no time to explain. I had to see you, Andy. I had to explain—”

“There’s nothing to explain. I know you’re innocent. I  _ know _ it.” Sirius was moved by his cousin’s words. He looked as if he would cry, weren’t he starving.

“I can’t stay, I have to go far away, but I’ll keep in touch.”

“I understand. Stay for a few seconds, I’ll give you some of Ted’s clothes, they might be a little too big… he’s gained some weight, you know?” She began fretting, going all around the kitchen gathering everything and anything she could think of to help her cousin.

“Don’t. I really should leave as soon as possible. Every second I spend here I am in bigger risk of getting caught.” She stuffed everything she’d gathered into a backpack.

“Here, take this. I know it’s not much, but if you really must go, at least is better than nothing.”

“Thank you, Andy. It really means a lot.”

“Be safe.” They hugged again before Sirius jumped onto Buckbeak and they disappeared from view soon enough. Ted came in a few minutes later, to find his wife still staring out the kitchen window.

“Dromeda, is everything okay?” She let herself collapse into a chair, and turned to her husband.

“Your poppies are ruined.” Ted frowned, then his expression softened.

“I’ll grow new ones. You know I’d never get angry at you for something like that.”

“He was here, Ted.” He seemed alarmed.

“Who?”

“My cousin.”

“Oh.”

“He looked terrible. I wanted to help him, but since he’s on the run…”

“He’ll be fine, you’ll see.”

. . .

“This is so exciting!” Juno said, rubbing her hands together. “I can’t believe she’s grown so much.”

“An Auror. She’s become an Auror, trained by no other than Mad-Eye Moody,” Ted added, camera at the ready. He was wearing his finest suit.

“He’s been asked to step down, though, hasn’t he?” Andromeda asked, in a goldenrod dress that Ted loved on her. ‘You would’ve been a wonderful Hufflepuff’ he’d said. ‘You would’ve looked lovely in yellow.’ She went back to the scene when Nymphadora stepped forward to receive her Auror robes from Kingsley Shacklebolt, her hair bright purple. She held Ted’s free hand, as he took as many photographs as he could. It was over now. Their daughter was an adult. If only her uncle and Gideon had been there to see it.

. . .

“What do you mean Voldemort is back?” Andromeda asked, her voice full of fright. They were standing in Molly’s kitchen. Andromeda was slightly relieved to see she was not the only one with fear in her face. Molly looked like she’d been slapped across the face. They both had lost so much to him. Dumbledore stood calm as ever, looking at them. There was she and Ted, and Molly and Arthur, of course. But there was also her daughter, Nymphadora, Bill, Fred and George, and Juno and Dedalus—who seemed to be standing as far from each other as possible.

“I’m reforming the Order. We need as many people as possible. We’ll have the advantage this time around if we get moving immediately.” They all looked at Dumbledore. Andromeda felt her heart break when she saw her daughter stepping forward once again, the first to do so, along with Bill and the twins. The young did not know. Well she had to admit that both her daughter and Bill had lost Gideon and Fabian.

“I’ll join” they said at the same time. Arthur and Molly held hands and nodded in agreement. Dedalus did too. Juno sighed.

“I guess there’s no other option,” she shrugged. Ted took Andromeda’s hand in his. She knew what it meant, she looked at their daughter, then back at him. She finally turned to Dumbledore.

“You can use our place like last time. We’ll tend to the wounded.” Dumbledore nodded, a satisfied smile forming in his lips.

“That will do. Now, Andromeda, have you heard at all from your sisters?” Andromeda blinked, surprised to have been singled out like that.

“Bellatrix is in Azkaban, and even if she weren’t, Narcissa and she would never talk to me. I was disowned. I’m no longer a Black, I haven’t been for more than two decades now.” Dumbledore pondered this.

“I see. If you happen to hear from them by any chance, I’d like you to pretend you want to get back on their good graces. Do you think you could do that?” She looked at her husband, then at her daughter. Anything to keep them safe.

“Of course but, as you say, they have to reach out to me first. If they do, I might get Narcissa to trust me. If I’m the first one to reach out they’ll suspect me.”

“Naturally.”

. . .

Andromeda stepped into number 12 Grimmauld Place, shivering at the scene. She wasn’t an official member of the Order, as she was not to be partaking in any operations unless her sisters contacted her. Knowing more than she needed to only put her in danger. Still, Dumbledore had shared the secret with her so she could see her cousin. Sirius looked like a different person. He’d gone back to look like his old handsome self, only a haunted edge to his gaze and dark circles under his eyes tainted his features. They hugged, and Andromeda teared up. Only after they’d parted, Andromeda noticed her daughter and Remus sitting by the kitchen table, discussing something.

“I can’t believe you’re here, Andy.”

“Your house is still the most foul place.” He rolled his eyes.

“Don’t mention it.” She turned to Remus.

“Hi, Remus.”

“Andromeda,” he nodded. 

“I’d be happy to brew you a Wolfsbane Potion if you ever need it. I don’t like to brag, but I’m quite the accomplished potion maker.” Remus smiled politely.

“So tells me Tonks here. Thank you for your offer, Andromeda.” She reciprocated the smile, then turned back to her cousin.

“Please take care of my daughter, Sirius.” His expression turned sour.

“You know I’d be happy to oblige, Andy, but Dumbledore has me locked up in here like I’ve got the plague or something.”

“That’s too bad, she really could use some extra protection.” Nymphadora cleared her throat.

“Mum!! I’m right here you know? I’m disappointed in you, never would’ve pictured you as one to underestimate me because I’m a girl.” Andromeda rolled her eyes.

“I don’t underestimate you. I know you, Dora, and it has nothing to do with you being a witch, but with your talent to step where you shouldn’t.” Nymphadora blushed violently, and Remus chuckled.

“Dora?” He asked. “That’s your name? What’s wrong with it?” Sirius smirked.

“Oh, no, that’s only a nickname, Moony. The full name is much, much worse.”

“What do you mean worse, Sirius?” Andromeda felt attacked. “My daughter’s name in beautiful. I see nothing wrong with—”

“DON’T,” Nymphadora interrupted her, but she was not quick enough to stop her cousin from whispering into Remus’s ear.

“So Nymphadora Tonks?” Remus asked, a smirk on his face.

“I will kill you,” Nymphadora told Sirius.

“I’m your cousin.”

“Not anymore you’re not.”


End file.
